All The Fragile Ones
by Tiruneko
Summary: The blade flew into the young girl's skull "killing her". But out of the fog of pain the small child staggered to her feet and pulled the blade right out of her skull, splattering the audience with blood. "Such a bad child you are! Demon child!" And without another glimpse of daylight she was shut away. But that was a long time ago. And things change. But not that much.
1. The Stranger Behind The Wall

**Moshi Moshi Dokusha!**

**A new story based off of A Tale of Six Trillion Years and a Night, but using different main characters. Hope you enjoy my newest story! Review, follow, and fav it as always!  
**

__**_Tiruneko ;3  
_**

* * *

_X~1~X_

Taken by the hand she was dragged out into the open space, where everyone could see. She was told, no… ordered to get down on her knees and to put her hands above her head. Not knowing what else to do, this small child with the red eyes and teal hair obeyed with tremors of fear. She knew what was coming, but doesn't know how to stop it. Doesn't know how to get these people to stop it.

The crowd around them calls out in shouts of anger and protest.

"Kill it!" They all scream.

"Mama, not again, okay?" The little girl pleads, her voice a quiet whisper.

The woman standing behind her raises a large blade just above the girls head.

"Mama, no okay?"

It was too late. The blade flew into the young girl's skull "killing her". But out of the fog of pain the small child staggered to her feet and pulled the blade right out of her skull, splattering the audience with blood. She watched their horrified faces with a look of confusion.

"Such a bad child you are! Demon child!" And without another glimpse of daylight she was shut away.

But that was a long time ago.

And things change.

But not that much.

Stones pelt her window as the teal haired girl sits gazing out into the world she longs so much for. Children are bellow her, throwing the rocks. They laugh as they do this, just a game to them. But this is her life.

She pounds a fist into the glass and forms a crack. The children scream and scatter away. _I can't let the memories hurt me anymore._ She says to herself, pawing at her hair for comfort. _They haven't done anything to me since then. Ten years without incident. _She thinks to herself.

She stands slowly from her seat on the floor in front of the only window she has. In her small cell is a mattress, and a white sheet. No pillow. She also has a small coffee table that barely rises to ten inches above the ground. The room is all white, even the stone door is white.

It isn't fair.

But then again a lot of things aren't fair.

Her torn and tattered white dress flutters around her rail-thin frame, making her look fragile, like a flower waiting to be plucked and trampled.

She is a fragile one.

In appearance.

"What to do…" She whispers to herself, pacing around the small cell. She lines up her footsteps exactly, so that each time she moves, it's in a perfectly straight line.

A knock makes her jump backwards. No one ever knocks. She tip toes over to the door and places her ear on it.

The knock comes again.

She waits. And waits. But nothing more happens.

"Hello?" A muffled voice calls.

The teal haired girl shrieks in surprise.

The voice isn't coming from the door, but the wall. She crawls on all fours over to the wall and presses her ear against it.

"Hello?" She whispers timidly.

A reply comes racing back immediately, "Hello!" A male voice yells back.

She jumps again.

"No one talks to me…" She trails off.

"I am." It responds.

"… why? I'm evil." She replies with tears in her eyes.

"What makes you evil?" It says with confidence.

"I… I don't know."

"I do." He says. "They're afraid so they say we're evil."

"We're?"

"Us."

"Who's us?"

"Me and you. And Rin."

"Rin?" She asks, now very puzzled by this voice behind the wall.

"My sister."

"Why are you evil?" She presses on, confidence and emotion surfacing in her voice.

"You know." It responds.

"I do?"

The voice chuckles at her.

"Do you know where they took Rin by any chance?"

She pauses to think.

"I don't think I know."

"You're very unsure."

"I am?"

He laughs again.

"Every other word out of you is a question."

"I guess so." She laughs slightly. A quiet, musical laugh that was meant to be heard. Then she realized that she hadn't laughed in ten years.

"Ten years." She says to herself.

"Huh?"

"Since I laughed." She says.

"That's a long time to not laugh. No one should live like that."

"I do."

"Not anymore." He says.

"Huh?"

"I just made you laugh."

"Oh. That's right." She laughs again.

"What's your name stranger behind the wall?" The girl cries out, her curiosity consuming her.

"Len."

"M-miku." She chokes up. It's been far too long since she's heard her own voice speak her name.

"Why are we here?" She says suddenly, hoping Len has the answers she has been begging for since the beginning of time it seemed like.

"Well, we don't die."

She chuckles. "I remember now. They call me 'demon child'."

"That's one hell of a nick name. Mine is 'hell child', Rin's is 'hell spawn'." He jokes back.

"Where is this Rin sister?"

He goes silent.

"I don't know."

"Now you're the uncertain one!" She says with a light hearted giggle, trying to keep up this wonderful feeling.

The feeling of company, in a cold, cold world.


	2. I Won't Die

**Chapter two already! Happy Friday~! **

**~_Tiruneko :3__  
_**

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_X~_2_~X_

Miku blinks into consciousness. She wipes a string of drool from the corner of her mouth and takes a moment to look around. Early sunlight spills in through the bars on the window. It makes her smile. The comfort of sunlight in a dark and cold world is just what she lives for.

Why am I so happy this morning? She thinks to herself.

That's right!

Len.

She knocks on the wall. "Len?" She whispers, unsure if he was ever even there.

"…Miku?"

Her face immediately illuminated into a full smile.

"Yes, yes!" She cries, placing her palms flat against the wall.

"You're happy."

"Why shouldn't I be?" She says.

"Good point."

Just then the sound of keys turning in a lock snap Miku from her fairy tale of company and fill her heart with terror.

"Len… they're coming again. Please don't let them-" The heavy stone door swings open with a crash and clang.

"Miku?" She hears Len call desperately from the other side of the wall. "Miku! Who's coming! Miku!"

A silhouette of a tall and assertive man stands in the doorway. Miku's eyes widen in terror as she flings her arms up over her head in preparation.

"Stand." The voice orders at the cowering girl.

Miku stagers to her feet and chains are immediately attached to her limbs. Two large guards stand on either side of her.

"Walk, now." The male demands.

As she moves towards the door the male figure comes into view. A tall and masculine man with dark blue hair and a white lab coat. They march her from the room and down a long white hallway with florescent lights.

She is lead into a small room the size of her cell. The guards and the man with blue hair cram into the room with her.

"Scum." The man spews at her, landing a harsh slap across her face.

The guard kicks her in the rib cage, sending her flying across the room with a whoosh of air.

"Get up!" The man orders.

She staggers to her feet and is immediately splashed with water.

_They're always slinging the "Holy water" at me. It doesn't do anything though. I wonder why they still do this. _

"How does it not affect you!" The man with blue hair cries, grabbing her quivering frame by the neck of her paper thin dress.

Tears roll down her face.

"Answer me demon child!"

"I don't know!"

He throws her aside like a piece of trash and she smashes into the wall with a deafening thunk.

"Get up!"

She stands slowly, leaning on the wall for support.

"Don't make me do this." The man says pulling out a pistol.

Her eyes widen with horror.

"No! No! Not again! No! No!" She screeches covering her ears and shaking her head back and forth rapidly.

The man is upon her, holding the gun up to her forehead.

She shakes like paper in the wind.

"Watch closely men. Write what you see." He says calmly as a woman with long green hair enters the room holding a writing pad and video camera.

"Please sir. Don't make me die."

"Too late for that, little immortal one." The trigger is pulled.

An explosion of indescribable pain crashes through her head with un earthly speed. Parts of her brain and blood splatter the white wall in a flash. The man's white coat becomes painted with her blood. Miku's hands fall limply to her side and she collapses onto her knees. She stands there for a moment, not breathing and not moving. Her eyes flash briefly and she stands wearily. With this sudden movement, blood pours like a water fall out of the gap in her skull. She is standing in a puddle of her own blood. Tears sting her eyes.

"I won't die! I just won't DIE!" She screams at the top of her lungs.

"Exactly." The man says.

"Remarkable!" the woman cries. "She is still alive! How on earth…"

"As I've explained Dr. Lilly, this _thing_ is a demon sent from hell as a sign."

"You don't mean-"

"Yes, just as we've previously discussed. Now don't hesitate a moment more, bring in the next one. Guards, test her." The man turns to speak with the woman leaving the two guards to approach Miku.

"Don't look at us like that. You're the bad one."

They begin to inflict savage amounts of pain onto her, including burns, punches, kicks, and stab wounds. All the while the fragile girl stands and just takes it.

_Everyone is the same. Everywhere I am everyone does this. I'm always going to be like this. The scorn of the world. Why won't they just stop. _She thinks as the match is stuck and pushed into her arm yet again.

Out of the corner of her water filled eyes she notices the doors swing open, and a bruised and battered form of a slightly younger girl is lead into the room.

She is flung against the back wall of the room next to Miku, and is shot three times in the chest. Miku's torture does not stop for an instant, but she holds out long enough to see the blond haired girl stand to her feet and begin to retaliate just before she fades out of consciousness.

In an instant the illusion of safety she felt in her cell with the voice behind the wall was tossed aside and shattered, like the bones in her body.

And the courage in her heart.


	3. Her Pain Unmasked

**Chapter 3 already! God I just can't stop writing this one! And yes people, IA and Rin will come in very soon I PROMISE! I have the update schedule for this story figured out, Thursdays and Saturdays are when the new chapters come out, I think only one chapter a week is too little for a story so most of my stories get updated twice a week. Anways this is my FAVORITE chapter so far. Hope everyone enjoys it! I would really appreciate reviews because today is my huge editing day for most of my stuff. Thanks guys!**

**Thank you to my only reviewers so far:**

**-Guest**

**-InsertStupidNameHere**

**-Awesome dt**

_**Thanks guys~!**_

**~_Tiruneko ;3__  
_**

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_X~_3_~X_

A faint pounding noise off in the distance stirs awake the teal haired girl. She props herself up onto her knees and slowly opens her eyes.

Her body aches and groans with each movement she makes. With a quick glance down she realizes how blood-soaked and battered she really is.

Miku has a black eye and multiple bruises all over her body. Dried blood clings in her hair and is caked under her finger nails. Like a wave the memory of the pain comes back, flooding her with agony.

She is back in her cell now, crumpled up on the floor like a worthless heap.

The faint pounding noise returns.

"Miku?!" She crawls on all fours like a drowned dog over to the wall.

"…Len…"

"MIKU! Are you okay! What happened!"

She shakes her head slowly attempting to remove the fog clouding her brain. She begins to quiver like a leaf as tears stream down her pale checks.

"….why?" She sobs.

Len is silent contemplating what to say to her. On the other side of the wall is the slightly shorter blonde boy with piecing red eyes. He is slumped against the wall, covered in a thick layer of dirt and bruises. He is wearing a white shirt and white pants. He listens helplessly as this disembodied voice sobs on the other side of the wall.

"They're monsters." He says, seething.

Miku buries her face in her hands and sobs violently. "Why to me!" She screams.

"Because, they're afraid."

"Fear is abstract!" She spews out. "It's not something I can help! But they still take it out on me! Why on me!"

"…why on us." Len replies in his melancholy.

She continues to bawl her eyes out to this person she has known only a day. This is the first time in her life that there has been someone to hear her desperate sobs. The first time there has been even the slightest sliver of comfort for her in times of darkness.

"They tested you didn't they?" He asks.

"If testing means… hurting." She sobs.

"Might as well." Len sighs.

"Do they do… the same to you?"

"All the time." He replies, gritting his teeth.

"I'm cursed…" Miku whispers, removing her pale and bloody palms from her eyes and staring at them. She shutters remembering the gunshot. "I'm not even dreaming a single dream!" She cries. "But I still feel like I'm in a nightmare!"

Len stays silent and listens to her sobs. _We shouldn't have to feel like this._ He thinks bitterly. The main thing on his mind was his twin. Where on earth could they have taken her? This troubled him the most. He didn't know where she was. And she was his whole world. His family entirely. The two had a bond that can't be expressed by words, and every second he knew his sister was being tested, it ate at him.

Just as Len was thinking this Miku remembered the blonde haired girl beside her. With this memory however, came a new crippling wave of pain, causing her to double over with horrible retching sounds. And soon the recently surfaced memory faded away again.

Only when every drop of bile was removed from her stomach did she stop.

"Still okay?" Len called faintly.

With a sigh she responded.

"I'm hungry." Len moaned.

"Hungry?" Miku asked.

"Yeah. When do they feed us?"

"… They don't."

~~~X~~~X~~~

Kaito walked over to a woman with long green hair and a black hair band at a computer.

"The female twin from Tottori is the same as the one we received ten years ago." He states plainly, flopping down a tape in front of the worker.

"And about the other twin?" She asks, annoyed.

"We haven't begun the tests yet."

"Don't bring me another piece of evidence until I see to it that he is the same." She demands with a harsh tone.

"Yes Dr. Lilly"

The tall man with dark blue hair walks through the doors and back into the hallway. _These things have been popping up in the past four years… First the one from Kyoto… then the one from Fukushima… now the twins from Tottori… God this is frustrating. _

Kaito and Lilly have been in charge of the "Warning" operation since the birth of the first one. The first one has been kept closely under watch for the past ten years, and none more have surfaced until just recently.

Yes, he is sure. They are a warning sent to the world.

They are a warning sent from the depths of hell themselves.

He ushers three guards to follow him as they march to the room of the one called "Len". He puts the key in the lock and opens the heavy stone door.

In front of him is a very angry fourteen year old boy. A very angry, _immortal _fourteen year old boy.

"Get up." He barks.

"I'm not going anywhere with you sick animals!" He screams at them.

"Fine. Then we'll have to play this the hard way." Kaito says, taking out a hand pistol.

His eyes widen in terror, but he doesn't budge from his position, keeping the same defensive stance. Kaito cocks the gun and points it at the boy's forehead.

"Now just come with us nicely and no one gets hurt. I don't like hurting children you know."

"That's a lie if _I've _ever heard one. And trust me buddy, I've heard _many _of those before." He mocks. Without another word the gun is shot and a bullet goes flying through the Child's chest, sending him flying into the wall. The guards rush forward and drag him out of the cell, leaving a stream of blood. The child in their arms convulses and spews up large amounts of blood. His red eyes roll back into his head as this happens. Through his coughing and sputtering Kaito makes out many vulgar insults.

"Shush. You have no rights to speech hell child."

As the boy comes back into his body again and begins to struggle many more shots are fired into him. This one is a difficult one indeed, but not as difficult as his twin. The door to the "testing room" opens and the blonde hell child is tossed in. Kaito closes the door behind him with a calm click of the lock turning.

~~~X~~~X~~~

Miku heard the gun shots alright. Reduced back into her lonely sobs she imagined all the horrible things happening to this boy. The one that is the same as her…. Her comfort.

One question bugs her more than anything, like a bad mosquito bite. Why don't they die?

"I don't know. I don't know a thing." She whispers to herself in the lonely white cell. In her prison.


	4. The Warmth After The Rain

**I know a lot of people were REALLY exited for this next chapter, and I was so exited to write this one too~! So here's a little birthday present guys! Happy early chapter! Finally IA is introduced and we get a little look into the mind (and foul mouth) of Rin! Because this is being released early sorry its so short! Hope you enjoy all the same. Please Please PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review! X0! **

**~_Tiruneko ;3_****_  
_**

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_X~_4_~X_

Like a piece of trash the crumbled and battered body of Len was hurled back into the cell. His eyes are both black; a large bleeding gash is just bellow his hairline, cuts and burn marks like his arms. He is destroyed utterly, but somehow he stands and drags his limp and bloody body over to the wall.

"M-m-i…ku?" He mutters, barely audible.

"LEN!" He hears screamed. He hears the thumps of her palms smacking onto the wall.

"Are you okay! Len! Len!"

As if his name itself was a life preserver, Miku began to repeat it over and over again. The word itself was her new reason to live.

"I… I can't anymore." She says suddenly silent.

Len chuckles. "You can't? Take it from the guy with the bullet in his foot, that motion is seconded utterly without a doubt."

She is silent for a long time. On the other side of the wall lies the tealete, her head resting on the wall, both of her hands balled into fists. Surprisingly, she isn't crying, but silently brewing something over. Considering a thought very thoroughly.

"Miku?" Len asks with most of his strength back.

"…Len. What if… there was a way… to end it?"

"Miku…?"

"…they can't kill us but…"

"NO!" Len screams at her. But the girl doesn't jump.

"… what if we can kill ourselves?"

"Miku, no. No way in hell." Len hisses through clenched teeth.

"…think about it. Pain _free_ forever… no more crying or pain…"

"Miku NO!"

The girl rises causing her long teal hair to spill from on top of her shoulders like a pool of water flooding. Her bare footsteps sound silent as she moves to her bed, picking up the sheets. Len's calls are distant now, her own mind blocking them away as she works her mindless task. Fastening her carriage to death.

Len pounds on the wall, screaming at her to stop. Not that he has any idea what will really happen. He doesn't want her to do this to herself.

"Miku this isn't right! Stop it! There is so much out there in the world that is unknown to you! So many endless adventures! So many things you haven't gotten to experience, don't just throw that away!

The sunlight on your skin! The feel of warmth after rain! Miku please! There is so much! So much you don't know yet! Don't do this! Don't you long for the warmth of sun? Miku please this isn't the answer! More pain won't solve anything! DON'T DO THIS TO YOURSELF!"

His words were floating out of her ears. Not reaching her. As she steps on top of the coffee table and places the noose around her neck she gazes out of the window to see nothing but storm clouds and endless sheets of rain.

"Warmth after the rain huh…"

"MIKU!"

~~~X~~~X~~~

A blonde girl sits slumped against a window, gazing at her reflection in the glass. She isn't happy with what she sees. This only angers her more.

"Len…" She trails off.

With a new wave of desire she stands and throws herself into the stone door, pounding her fists on it.

"Come on! Open it so I can kick your asses!" She screams at the top of her lungs. No one seems to hear or care.

"Yeah screw you too!" She says with a kick to the door.

She walks away and back to the window.

"Where are you Len…? I wanna get the hell out of here."

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

Len hadn't heard a word from Miku a while. But he did hear the sickening noise of her body throwing itself into the noose, and the horrible coughing and sputtering she made after that. She must have blacked out.

He sits silently in thought.

Thought about the whole situation and every question he could think of. Suddenly an idea hits him.

_If Miku was on this side of the wall then Rin… _Without a second thought Len runs, throwing himself onto the other wall making a loud echoing thump.

"HELLO!" He screamed.

Someone heard his voice, but not who he expected.

"Hello! Please if someone is there say something!"

Inside the endless darkness that lied behind the wall sat a shadow of a human, with their head resting on their knees and their hands wrapped around their rail thin legs.

They, however, shrugged the voice off as just another trick of their imagination.

"Please! My name is Len! Is there _anyone_ there!"

"Len… that's a name… I couldn't imagine on my own." A quiet female voice like a whisper says.

It was barely loud enough for Len to hear.

"Come over to the wall so I can hear you better!"

"…wall? How do I know where the wall is in the darkness, voice?"

"Darkness what are you- wait, you're in the dark? Then… just move to the sound of my voice."

"Sound… of… your voice…" The figure crawls on all fours like a blinded cat over to the wall, and presses her check against the cold stone. "Hello Len-voice."

"Can you tell me your name?"

"… Mama says I'm not suppost 'ta talk to people."

"I want to know your name." The hopeful blonde boy asks.

"I'm sorry… I have no name." A girl with long, almost-white hair whispers to Len from her endless cell of darkness.

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

Miku picks herself up off of the floor, her hands touching her throbbing neck gently.

"Ow." She whispers to herself as she rubs the red marks.

Glancing up she sees the sunlight spill in from in between the grey clouds just outside her window. She sees cars drive by and children on their phones and playing with each other not to far away either.

A lone blue butterfly lands on the window pane, unfurling its wings.

"The warmth after the rain…" She says with a smile.


	5. The Light of The Moon

**YAY! Been looking forward to this chapter ALL WEEK LONG! X3 So stoked for this one. Rin makes her official appearance as well as IA and Meiko too~!  
**

**If you notice many minor typos/mistakes it is my cupcake's fault. You see while writing this, I was eating a cupcake, which made my hands all sticky, naturally I became enraged at my cupcake for ruining my key board and decided to throw it away. But then I came to my senses and realized what a horrible crime that would be to throw away a perfectly good cupcake. So I kept eating it. Hence, sticky key board. **

**Anyways I hope you enjoy as much as a cupiecake~! **

_**~Tiruneko ;3**_**  
**

* * *

_X~5~X_

"Are you kidding me!" The scientist with long green hair screams at the male scientist with dark blue hair.

"…no , subject one has attempted suicide."

Lilly sweeps a stack of papers off of her desk violently.

"How do you believe we should continue?"

After careful consideration, she stands up and announces her decision to everyone in the room. "Merge them. Two per cell. We can't have them killing themselves."

"But-"

"Are you disobeying a direct order ?"She says with a sharp glare.

"No miss. Merge them!" He calls behind him to his assistants.

"God dammit." He mutters under his breath as he walks after them down the hall.

The cell door of a blonde girl is opened, stirring her from light sleep. Realizing who it is at her door, she leaps up, taking a defensive stance.

Without second consideration, two gun shots echo throughout the cell. She collapses to the floor like paper, and is dragged out violently. The door to another cell just down the hallway is opened and the child, bloody and battered, is tossed inside. The moment she smashes into the ground she springs up, ready to run head first into the blue haired man, but only mere seconds before she would have made contact with him, the door is slammed in her face and she ends up coming crashing to the ground.

"God that hurt." She says rubbing her forehead. A small whimpering sound causes her to turn around. She notices that its night, first off, and second off, a shadowy figure is in the corner of this room.

"Hello?"

The figure tenses at her words, bringing her arms over her face defensively.

"I'm not going to hurt you, unless you hurt me first." She replies with a certain tone of harshness at the end.

"H-h-how do I know you're not lying?" The girl mutters.

"I'm not the type to lie." She moves towards this figure, causing her features to become more defined. She is taller than the blonde girl, she has relatively long, teal hair pulled into twin pony tails. Her body is twig thin, and her eyes have dark purple circles under them. Her lips are a soft pink and her skin is ghastly pale. The paper thin white dress is stained with dry blood.

The blonde girl with red eyes walks up to this new person and bends down in front of her. The teal haired girl flinches, and clenches her eyes closed.

"Don't hurt me!" She screams.

"Sheesh I thought we already went over this. I won't." She outstretches a hand to this cowering girl. "I'm Rin. Rin, hell spawn."

Miku stares at her hand blankly, but relaxes.

Rin waits patiently as the timid girl puts her hand gently on top of her open palm.

"M-miku."

"Nice to meet you Miku. Now let's figure out a way out of here." She says with a gentle light hearted smile.

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

Len hears muffled and soft speaking from Miku's room, so he silently crawls over to the wall, placing his ear against it.

Unexpectedly the door to his cell flies open, and something resembling a rag doll is thrown, literally thrown, through the air. It collides with the wall, making a noise like that of a mouse squeaking.

The scientist Len hates the most stands in the doorway.

"LILLY!" He hisses, charging forward. A bullet bursts through his stomach, propelling him backwards. The woman shuts the door.

Len spews obstinacies while standing and holding the wound in his stomach.

"… w-w-where is this?" A very, very soft female voice says. Len whips around only to see another person.

A girl, almost half of his size, with ungodly long almost white hair, is standing in a perfectly white dress, just in front of the window.

"Who are you?" The girl turns to look at him with piercing red eyes.

"…Len voice?" The girl questions, making a b-line for the boy. Once in front of him, she pulls on the bottom of his shirt and studies his face.

Suddenly disinterested she turns to the window, and squints.

"The sky… is bright."

"Bright? What are you talking about its practically pitch black in here! If it wasn't for the moon then-" Suddenly he realizes. This poor, crumbled little girl, has never seen the sky in day, or night.

"You're the girl with no name? But you're so… small and…. young."

She turns back to him, eyes still squinted.

"Are you sure you're real?" She asks.

"Yeah."

She walks forward, placing a hand on his stomach. Being so small, she has to reach up to do this. Len blushes slightly.

"Huh." She says quizzically. "It's real."

The small girl suddenly sits down right where she is and stares up at Len.

"Come down now okay?" The young girl says, pulling on his pant leg. Len sits down in front of her.

Unsure what to do, Len just stares at this child.

"How old are you?"She shrugs and begins to unravel a loose string on her dress. Len laughs slightly. "Don't do that, you'll ruin it." He takes her by the wrist gently and moves her hand.

"Okay Len voice."

"Just Len."

"Len."

"What should I call you?"

She shrugs again, and plays with a small strand of her pale hair.

"How about… Lia?"

"No… I don't like it. No L."

"How about just –ia then?" Len says jokingly, but the small girl took it literally.

"IA is fine." She says with a large smile. Len smiles back, placing a hand gently on top of her head.

Within less than an hour IA was asleep, curled up in Len's lap with her head resting on his arm, which he left under her, even though it was falling asleep.

He moves over to the wall.

"Miku? You awake? I thought I heard voices and-"

"LEN!" A familiar voice cries.

"Rin?" He whispers quietly, avoiding waking up IA.

"Len! Thank god, I didn't- I didn't know- I- I- oh my god Len!"

"Sheesh don't cry about it, I'm right here."

"Len is this the Rin you were talking about?" Miku asks.

"Yes! Yes it is!"

Miku smiles.

"She's really nice." Miku says. Neither of the twins were aware that Rin was the first person Miku has seen in the past ten years that hasn't wanted to kill her.

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

"How is it working?" A woman named Meiko asks, with her feet up on her desk.

"Seems to be going good." Kaito responds, flipping through the files of the seven year old immortal girl.

"Can't believe one of 'em went and tried it. She must have been really miserable!" She says, throwing her arms up in a wild explosion-type gesture.

"So what's next?" Kaito asks her.

"Not sure. Lilly is thinking of starting more vigorous testing. Thinks that the day may be closer than expected."

"Huh." He replies, now slightly disinterested. He opens a can of soda and takes a sip.

"Would be better with ice cream..." He trails of quietly, with a slight frown.

* * *

**KAITO YOU MONSTER! YOU NO DESERVE ICE CREAM AFTER THE HELL YOU PUT THESE CHILDREN THROUGH! (This scene has been edited from its original ice cream containing scene to this simple soda scene, because I think everyone can agree, KAITO DOESN'T DESERVE ICE CREAM NOW! **

**Wow I really went on about ice cream didn't I...? **

**Oh well. **

**^-^ ~!**

**~_Tiruneko _;3**


	6. The Escape Plan

_X~6~X_

"Shion!" Lilly screams. "How dare you show up late on a testing day! I could have you fired right now if I wanted too, and trust me you're lucky I'm not going to."

"I'm sorry Dr. Lilly." He says bowing his head.

"Just get the hell in there." She says shoving a clip board into his hands.

Shion hurries down the hall to testing room number three.

On the wall is a seven year old girl with red eyes and almost white hair. Her wrists are clasped in chains and she is dangling from the ceiling by them.

Guards line the walls.

Large warm tears roll down her pale and filthy cheeks and cloud her eyes.

"Good morning subject two." Kaito says with a smile forming in the corner of his mouth.

Meiko Sakine stands behind him, cattle prod in hand.

"Now?"

"Not yet Sakine. I have to take vitals first." He begins to measure all kinds of things, blood pressure, heart beats per minute, temperature, he even takes a blood sample and hair sample.

"Now."

Meiko rushes forward, smiling ear to ear. She gabs the large and long metal cattle prod into the girls rib cage and switches it on.

IA convulses and twitches violently with loud screams muffled by the sound of electricity dancing off of metal. Her eyes roll back into her head, and then she drops limply into her chains. Meiko steps back. Kaito starts a timer.

Five seconds, ten seconds, twenty, thirty, a minute. At exactly a minute five seconds the girl moves her head and raises it staring at them.

Kaito moves in and tests the same vitals again.

"Go."

Meiko races forward and turns on the torture device. And the little girl screams in agony.

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

"I can't take it anymore!" Len yells punching the wall.

"Len just calm down okay?" Miku says softly.

"No! I can't imagine what they're doing to a girl that young. It makes me sick!"

"We can't do anything about it right now."

"It's just tearing me to pieces… I can't stay here anymore."

"Great. Now are we _finally _going to try and get the hell out of here?" Rin groans.

Len grunts in response.

"What do you mean get out?" Miku asks staring at Rin with an expression of confusion.

Rin stares at her blankly.

"Did you not hear me?" Rin asks.

"No I heard. You said escape but…" Miku nervously plays with her fingers.

"You've _never _been outside!" Rin screams shocked.

"…well not in a while."

"How long?"

"… ten… years."

"WHAT!" Rin yells.

Miku nods meekly, feeling as if she's done something wrong because Rin is yelling at her.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen…? I think."

"Me and Len are fourteen." Rin says, genuinely shocked that a girl two years older than her has barely any memories or experiences outside of this prison.

Len stands up in his cell and wanders to the window. He checks the sealant on it, checks the glass, and the strength of the bars. He sighs in defeat.

"The windows aren't going to be an area we can use!" Len calls.

The twins rack their brains on either side of the wall, trying to come up with a viable escape plan. One where the minimum amount of damage is dealt to any of them.

Suddenly the shy teal girl pipes up. "What about when they go to bring IA back Len? Rush them and knock them down or something and take the gun"

"You make it sound easy."

"No really."

"Miku I'll get shot like seventy times. I won't make it out the door."

"Do you have a table?" She says.

"Yeah a small one why?"

"Use it like armor!" Rin cries. "That's genius! Except for the fact that bullets go through wood."

"Not like armor, but throw it at them. They can't shoot if there is a table in their face." Miku says proud of her idea.

"I guess but… What about getting you guys out? Won't I need keys?"

"Kaito carries them with him probably, you'll just have to take them." Rin says.

"But what's the chance that he has the keys to your cell too?"

"Well he needs keys to open your cell, the logical thing would be to keep all of the keys together." Rin points out.

"But still what about-"

Footsteps and gunshots down the hall mean that IA is coming back.

"Len this may be our only chance, just try. Please." Rin pleads with him.

Len rushes to grab the small coffee table.

"Let's hope this works."

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

IA is dragged by her arms down the hall way, leaving a long streak of crimson blood on the white tile floor.

Kaito flips through her clip board one more time before he takes out his key ring. He looks for the one saying CELL 3.

"Hurry it up Shion." Meiko says behind him, taking out her gun.

"I know."

He places the small silver key and turns it in the lock. The door is pushed open.

Len isn't visible.

"Where the hell is he?" Meiko asks.

Suddenly out of nowhere the blonde boy slides into view just in front of the door, and before either can react he hurls the coffee table at them. Meiko and Kaito slam into the ground and Len charges out, jumping on top of them and picking up the gun.

The assistants are wildly scrambling to fire at him, but most of them need to reload from shooting IA and almost all of them are preoccupied with keeping her subdued.

Len began shooting at their legs and arms, but unfortunately with his horrible aim he managed to mortally wound almost four.

Frantically he pushes the table off of Kaito and grabs the keys out of his hand. He bolts to the cell door right next to his and fumbles with the immensely large door. Just as he flings it open, Meiko crashes right into him, pinning him to the ground while simultaneously wailing on him with a hail storm of punches.

She grabs a knife out of her pocket.

Rin kicks her right in the jaw, sending her flying off her brother.

Rin jumps on top of the woman, and begins to brutally fight her.

Miku stands inside her cell and watches in horror.

Len staggers to his feet and darts into Miku's cell, grabbing her wrist and tugging her out of it. But the door is slammed in his face, by Shion.

"RIN! THE DOOR RIN OPEN IT!"

A gun shot echoes throughout the hallway. Followed by moments of silence.

The two wait, not breathing or moving, but hoping. Hoping their only chance for freedom isn't gone. They hope it hasn't vanished up into the air.

* * *

**I'm so evil with the cliff hangers and what not (MWAAAAHAHAHAHAHHA!) ;3  
**

**_~Tiruneko ;3  
_**


	7. A Rogue Bullet

**Heh, heh. Come on guys, I would never be THAT mean and leave you hanging until Thursday for the end of the fight scene! I havn't had time to edit this one yet, I'll be pretty busy today and wanted to get this out this morning to you guys, so expect some errors. **

**Thanks to my on going supporters, InsertStupidNameHere, and awesome dt. **

**A response to a review from Guest: **

**1. As a response to the first point you made, yes of course they are going to be worried about dying because it really, really hurts. They feel the pain of death all the same, but they don't die from it, which makes it worse because there is no immediate relief afterwards, its an agonizing process to come back and it takes a lot of energy. So of course they are going to be afraid of dying again. **

**2. You were right about this one, I wen't and checked back on this and I will fix it. Thanks for pointing that out. **

**Thanks for reading as always~! **

_**~Tiruneko **_**;3**

* * *

**Previously:**

_Miku stands inside her cell and watches in horror. _

_Len staggers to his feet and darts into Miku's cell, grabbing her wrist and tugging her out of it. But the door is slammed in his face, by Shion. _

"_RIN! THE DOOR RIN OPEN IT!" _

_A gun shot echoes throughout the hallway. Followed by moments of silence. _

_The two wait, not breathing or moving, but hoping. Hoping their only chance for freedom isn't gone. They hope it hasn't vanished up into the air. _

The two wait, not breathing or moving, but hoping. Hoping their only chance for freedom isn't gone. They hope it hasn't vanished into the air.

_X~7~X_

"Len…" Miku whispers, clinging to his arm.

Len stands focusing on the door. _Come on Rin. Please. Please Rin. _

The heavy stone door barely creaks open. Len lunges forward to open it. Standing on the other side is IA.

"IA!"

The small girl grabs Len by the wrist and pulls him out into the hallway, Miku timidly follows.

Meiko and Rin are fighting over a pistol laying on the floor, most of the guards lay in a pool of their own blood thanks to Len.

Kaito is clutching his leg in the corner. A long bladed knife is plunged into it.

Len breaks free of the child's grip and runs forward, jumping on top of Meiko, knocking her to the ground and rolling her.

"Go Lenny!" IA cheers with a light hearted giggle.

Rin stands and rushes to the aid of Len. She lands a punch directly onto the brown haired woman's eye. Rin grabs her arms and twists them painfully behind her, she then slams her into the ground and places her foot on the back of her head.

"Knock her out." She orders to her brother, who kicks Meiko in the side of the head with all of his might.

With a loud cry the woman goes unconscious. Rin leaps off of her and takes off down the hallway.

"Before more guards show up!" She calls behind her. As she races by she grabs Miku by the wrist, forcing her into a sprint.

Len scoops up IA in his arms bridal style and he darts over the bodies of guards and comes to the body of Kaito Shion.

"You lost." Len says coldly, and the blonde boy continues to run.

"Lenny…" IA says staring up at him.

"Y-yeah?" He answers with shortage of breath.

"Duck."

Four guards armed with clubs appear at the end of the hallway. Len ducks just in time not to run straight into one of the long metal clubs.

He keeps running, feeling as if his legs are about to break off of his body.

Len spots his sister and Miku at the end of the hallway, trying to pick left or right.

"Go right!" Len calls forward, remembering his entrance into this building vaguely. When him and his sister were first dragged to this hell hole the assistants had killed them both enough times to make sure they were unconscious, but Len had just begun to wake up as they entered the building. He remembered the paths they took figuring this day would come eventually.

Rin half drags Miku down the next hallway.

"Pick up your legs already!" She cries at her.

"I- Oomf!" She starts to explain but trips over her own feet. Rin stops to pick her up, allowing Len to catch up.

"They're coming!" Rin screams as echoing footsteps are heard down the hallway.

The group keeps running.

"Were not gonna make it!" Len cries as the exit comes slowly into view.

"We're so close just come on!" Rin protests, tugging harder on Miku. She trips again.

"I can see the door!" Len yells.

A bullet barely misses Len's head, and goes flying past his ear with a loud and piercing whizz.

"We're so screwed." Rin screams.

More bullets fail to hit them, and they begin to run in zig zags so they aren't hit.

Rin outstretches her free arm to push open the door. So close, so close, so close, so close… Her finger tip touches the door and then with a loud crash and whoosh, the doors fling open. Len follows right behind her.

The sunlight is blinding and Miku cries out and squints her eyes shut. Len jumps of the last few steps and they bolt down into the grass leading to the parking lot.

"What now!" Rin cries, realizing they didn't plan this far ahead.

"There!" Len screams pointing at a man getting into a car. The group rushes forward, Rin lets go of Miku and crashes into the man. Without hesitation she snatches car keys from his hand and they pile into the car. Len gently but hurriedly sets down IA in the back, and he gets in the driver's seat. Rin takes passenger and Miku grabs backseat.

"Were gonna die again!" Miku wails.

"NO we won't!" Len jams the keys into the ignition. The car comes to life with a hum just as an army of twenty guards run out of the front doors.

The car speeds and swerves out of the parking lot and pulls away onto the main road. It drives off into the distance just as a bullet smashes through the back window.

Loud shattering of glass and a shout of pain make Len jump and the car swerves violently. A rouge bullet soared through the glass and into the back of IA's head.

She lays like a rag doll, collapsed in the back seat.

Her body shudders and then re animates. She explodes into violent sobs, clutching her head as blood pours down her, staining her hair.

Miku instinctively wraps her arms around IA, and gives her a tight embrace, only causing her sobs to become louder and more frantic.

"Len what do I do?" She whispers as IA continues to sob. Rin twists around to look in the back seat only to see shards of glass lodged in Miku's shoulders and parts of her head. IA is a sobbing wreck enveloped in Miku's quivering arms.

"This is bad." Rin whispers. "Len they're bound to come after us in cars of their own any second now."

"You're the one with the plans Rin!" Len yells, swerving to avoid an oncoming car.

"We need to stop somewhere. We can't go into a city or out in public like this, but if we stop, they're bound to catch us."

"Ditch the car." Rin suggests.

With a sigh Len agrees, realizing sadly that this is their only option.

They pull into a gas station about five minutes later, and pile out of the car. Upon exiting IA crashes into Len, grips him, and begins to sob into his chest.

"Don't worry IA." He says with the most soothing voice he has, while stroking her soft hair.

"Let's hurry." Rin says nervously glancing around.

Miku stands near the car, staring at the sky with a look of peace.

"Miku… come on we're going in."

She stands in silence, letting her hair sway and dance around her in the wind momentarily, before turning to them with a nod.

The store is entirely empty, except for a janitor in the far corner and a woman working the counter who is too busy with her magazine to glance up. The group hurries into the unisex bathroom.

Rin walks over to the sink and starts running warm water.

Len sets down IA on the floor in the corner and begins to blot some of the blood clumped in her hair away with paper towels.

"Rin what about our clothes? We're practically wearing blood soaked paper."

"They're bound to have souvenir clothes or whatever out there, right?" She asks.

"Go check." He says, standing and walking over to Miku.

"Hold out your arms, I need to take out the glass."

Miku stares at the boy for the first time. He has shoulder length blonde hair, pulled into a high pony tail, that surprisingly doesn't look the slightest bit feminine. His eyes are the same piercing red as hers. He is pretty lean for his age, and is a few inches shorter than Miku because of his age.

He has a healing cut on his forehead, and a black eye. A lone trail of blood runs down his arm.

He's gorgeous.

Slowly he pulls out a shard of glass shaped like a puzzle piece out of her forearm.

"Ow." She winces at the pain.

Len submerges her arm in the warm water, making it sting.

"Sorry it hurts."

"Don't be. I kind of… like it."

"What?" He says looking at her confused.

"Reminds me I'm still alive. And more, that I'm free for the first time in my life." She smiles up at him.

"Then I guess it's not a bad thing." He says smiling back.

"I have nothing to be sad about anymore." She whispers, feeling the words dance off her tongue and lips, like air as a trail of crimson red blood rolls down her arm and drops onto the white counter top of the gas station bathroom.

And this is her happiness.


	8. Orange Gummy Bears

**Happy weekend minna! **

**Sorry I was late with this chapter, a lot of unfortunate things have suddenly befallen my personal life, but besides the point here is the eighth chapter of my FAVORITE story to write. **

**I hope everyone enjoys this chapter as much as I liked writing it, (writing is like venting for me :3)**

**I have no homework this weekend, (R&R weekend, rest and relaxation) so I will be updating this story EVERY DAY this weekend. Sound good? Hahaha~! **

**Enjoy as always, **

_**~Tiruneko**_**;3**

* * *

_X~8~X_

Miku zips up a black souvenir hoodie, and tangles her hair while trying to put it into pig tails.

"Here let me help." Rin says, walking up behind her and using her fingers to comb through the rats nest that is Miku's hair. She then separates it evenly into two sections, and puts rubber bands in, because they have no pony tails.

Miku stares at her reflection in the mirror. She is wearing a medium sized black hoodie with the words, I HEART JAPAN scrolled across the chest. She has on grey sweat pants with the logo for the gas station/tourist trap on the upper right thy. Pink slippers are on her feet due to lack of a gas station selling shoes.

Rin has tied a massive white bow in her hair, is wearing a baggy grey pull over sweat shirt, and white shorts with the same logo as Miku's, and the same slippers as Miku's in yellow.

"Thanks Rin…" Miku says memorized by her reflection.

IA sits on the floor in the corner. She has on a pink zip up hoodie more like Miku's over her dress. The bottom of it has only small tears and minimal blood stains, so she kept it on like a skirt. She refused to wear shoes, so Len will have to carry her everywhere.

Len walks back in holding a bundle of clothes in his hands.

"I'm changing now so you guys go wait outside."

"Len what about paying for all this stuff?" Rin asks.

He stands thinking.

"What about a back entrance?" He asks. "We can walk out through there without setting off any alarms or anything right?"

"Maybe… I guess we can try."

"Come on IA, follow Miku and Rin." Len says extending a hand to the little girl, who clings to his hand tightly.

"Come with us?" She asks, her eyes big and her mouth pressed into a tight line.

"I'll be there in a second okay?" He says patting her head.

IA walks over and grips Miku's hand tightly in hers.

"Miku I've gotta carry IA. The workers will think it's weird that we're letting her walk around barefoot. Plus she'll cut up her feet on the asphalt outside."

"Asphalt?" She asks confused.

"It's the black rock that the road is made out of." Rin says while scooping up IA into a piggy back. "Let's go."

They leave Len in the bathroom to change and they wander out into the other isles of the store. On their way out Rin snags a backpack off the wall rack and tosses it to Miku. They move silently into the snack isle and begin opening the fridges, throwing in drinks, chips, jerky, cookies, anything they can fit.

"I feel like this is wrong." Miku whispers.

"It is. But we're in a unique situation." Rin says gritting her teeth.

Just as she said this five white vans pull into the parking lot of the gas station.

"Rin…" IA says, pointing at the window.

Rin whips around.

Immediately she runs to the bathroom and pounds on the door yelling for Len. This makes the cashier glance up from the magazine momentarily.

"LEN THEY'RE HERE!"

He throws open the door. He is wearing a white T-shirt with the gas station logo on the back and the same pants as Miku but black.

"Give me IA, I can move faster with her."

They bolt to the counter and slide over the top.

"Hey you can't-"

They throw open the employees only door and bolt for the back exit.

Once outside Miku stops in her tracks and stares right at Len.

"Wait how are we going to get a car open?" Miku says, panicked.

"I'll be right back." Rin says, rushing back into the building.

She comes out moments later holding keys and a wallet in her hand.

"Hurry, they're almost in the parking lot."

They try the key with the only three cars in the lot and it ends up fitting in the lock of a blue van with three rows of passenger seats.

"Sheesh soccer mom?" Len says as he places IA in the back then jumps up front.

"Len you suck at getaway driving just let me!" Rin yells, grabbing the steering wheel. They switch places and as calmly as possible pull out of the lot and back onto the road just in time to see the swish of long green hair move through the door.

Rin smacks the gas pedal and the car lurches into almost eighty miles an hour.

"Miku hand me the back pack Rin snagged." Len says reaching his hand back.

Miku hands up the white back pack.

Len opens a pack with a colorful thing inside and places three bear shaped squishy things in Miku's palm. She stares at them dumbly.

"What is it?"She asks poking it.

"It's a gummy bear. Try it." Len says, putting a hand full in his mouth.

"Gummy bear…? How do I 'try it' Len?"

"Put it in your mouth and chew then swallow it."

"Eat it? You can eat this?" She asks, green eyes widening.

"Don't tell me you've never had a gummy bear before. Try the orange one first they're a-ma-zing!" Rin cries, eating another handful.

"Okay…" Miku places a small green one into her mouth and chews slowly. "Its… wow… it's so good! It tastes like… it tastes like… like… like uh…"

"Sweet?" Len finishes.

"Yes! C…can I have more...?"

Rin throws the whole bag back into her quivering hands. Miku wastes no time in devouring every last thing in the bag. Every color, even handfuls at a time are thrown into her mouth and she devours them every time without fail.

Len gives a yellow bag with the words ORIGINAL CHIPS scrawled across in large black letters to IA.

"Put it in here?" She asks, pointing at her mouth.

Len nods. "Then chew with your teeth. Move your mouth up and down like you're talking, except with it closed." He corrects, using his hand to gently close her mouth.

Rin's hand moves to the radio and she hits a few buttons causing loud rock music to explode out of the stereo. Miku jumps almost five feet in the air and screams.

"Calm down, it's just music!" Rin screams over Miku's panicked shouts.

"Oh…"

Len laughs. "You're like a kid Miku."

"I am?"

Rin giggles slightly and takes a large bite out of a packaged powdered donut.

"God gas station food is the BEST after not eating for a week." She cries, taking a swig of a powerful energy drink.

"You said it." Len says, watching IA's and Miku's faces light up as they have their first tastes of junk food.

"A town is coming up." Rin states pointing at a sign.

"Better slow down then."

She nods, easing on the gas and slowing to only sixty miles per hour.

"Len go through that wallet and look for credit cards. We gotta pay for a hotel for tonight." Rin says, taking another long swig of a different canned drink with the words ARNOLD PALMER on the front.

"Bingo." The blonde boy holds up three glossy colorful cards.

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

"Kaito Shion…" Lilly taps a pencil against her desk. "You've gotten yourself into a world of unimaginable trouble. Not only have you failed to collect vital data from subject two, but you let all _four _of them escape, lost them all, and nearly gotten fifteen guards killed in less than three hours. What do you have to say for yourself? No, you know what you don't _get _a say in this situation, instead I am giving you _a minute _to give me valid reasons why I should keep you imployed with me. No… keep you _alive._"

"Miss Lilly-"

"Fifty seconds Shion. Cut the formalities." She draws a gun from her desk.

"I am your most valuable employee. I specialize in the types of science and experiments we use most here. This is one easily fixable mistake-"

"Easily fixable mistake?! It has taken us _months _to get the two twins and now they have our other two with them and you say easily fixable? Hah! Twenty seconds."

"I will devote every fiber and hair and atom of my being to finding them, and I will not rest until they are caught. If I fail you may kill me for I am no longer of use, and I have become a disgrace to our company, our mission, you, and the Heavenly Lord above."

"Times up."

Kaito bows his head and claps his hands together.

"You will devote every moment of your life from now on to their capture, do you understand me? You will be placed with a team of our elite trackers and if you fail, not only will _you _be killed, the members of your team as well, as added pressure and punishment. Your life is now a pawn of mine. I will use it just like that Shion. A pawn is a needed piece in a game of chess, but when one has been stolen from you, or per say… _sacrificed _for the good of the game, well, there are always more where that one came from."


	9. Scaring Waitresses

**I can't believe it, 1,000 views! X0!  
**

**Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you**** to everyone that has ever read, reviewed, followed, or favorited this story. Thank you so so much. I could not be happier about this story, nor could I thank any of you enough for supporting it and me.  
**

**The search is ON! **

_**~Tiruneko**_** ;3  
**

* * *

_X~9~X_

"This is your search team Shion. The finest trackers and combat artists we have to offer." Lilly says motioning to the lineup of adults on the wall. "The first is Meiko Sakine. Our leading torture and combat specialist, I know she is not new to you. The next we have is Haku Yowane. Haku is an expert tracker, she has years of experience in the military and years of experience with us." Lilly points to a woman with long silver hair pulled into a pony tail. The woman is wearing a long sleeved black leather jacket and pants. She has on a purple necklace and a matching purple bracelet. "This is Gakupo Kaumi. He is a combat and medical specialist." A man with un godly long purple hair nods in acknowledgement. "Last is Luka Megurine. She is our best hacker. She will allow you to gain vital information from an array of databases from anywhere in the world." A woman with long light pink hair blinks and glares at Kaito.

"If you fail, you all die." Lilly stalks out of the room and the door closes with a loud clash.

"I am honored to work with-" Kaito begins to say.

"Yeah, yeah, can it. This is a serious operation, and I take this job just as seriously. The sooner we find the demons and turn them in, the sooner I can get back to the _real _work of this job. This is _your _mistakes not ours. _You've _put all of our lives on the line Shion, and I don't appreciate that. Let's just start doing our job now okay?" Luka Megurine snaps.

Yowane nods, and follows the angry pink haired woman out. Gakupo and Meiko still remain in the room with Kaito.

"You okay there?" Meiko asks, walking over to her boy friend, and wrapping an arm around him.

"Fine." Kaito grunts, shrugging her contact off, and stomping out of the room.

"They're last whereabouts are this gas station, meaning they would have had to flee back down towards and past our facility or they would have had to move back into the nearest town. My best guess is the town considering the fact that they're all children. They have this woman's credit cards and car with them." Luka states while showing the group a picture of the gas station worker.

"I am already tracking the credit cards but no purchases have been made on them yet. The woman informed us that she also had seventy dollars cash in her wallet and car which she had been planning to deposit in the bank after her shift. The two twins are smart enough to know to use up the cash first, and to stick to cash. They also know better than to stay in the area where they have used the credit cards and debit cards. They have been known to frequent hotels, motels, sleep in cars, behind stores, in stores, and in libraries. They jump between using public transportation and stolen cars." She continues to rattle off information to them.

"So these two have been on the run before?" Haku asks.

"We and other rival facilities have been tracking these two down for quite some time now. They're experts at hiding out. ARFT has only had them for a maximum of one month before they've broken out. That's the most amount of time they've spent in captivity. The female twin is highly volatile when threatened. The male is less explosive, but extremely defiant and clever."

"What about the other two?" Gakupo asks Luka.

"Well," Kaito begins. "The youngest one and the oldest one we've had under our care for the majority of their lives. They have absolutely no experience in the outside world. Don't worry about them. They will be the weakest link-"

"Young children adapt well, especially one with as high of an IQ as she does. The older one, she can learn. You expect this to be easy?" Luka seethes.

"No not at all-"

"Then why don't you shut your mouth and let me do my job." Luka hisses.

"Back off." Meiko warns hovering over Luka.

Haku steps in, putting a hand on Luka's shoulder and simply shaking her head.

Luka sighs and continues to type away on her computer. _I will find you._ She thinks bitterly staring at pictures of the children. _I will_ _find you all. _

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

Miku sinks her teeth into a hamburger for the first time. Her eyes light up and shimmer with awe for a moment, then she devours the entire sandwich in under thirty seconds, and goes for another one.

Rin laughs, and eats a hamburger of her own.

Len sits with IA in his lap, and eats while trying not to spill anything on her head.

Everyone in the fast food restaurant watch the bizarre group eat like they never have before. For two of them, that's exactly what was happening.

Len drinks _another _soda and calls over the waitress _again._

"Yeah uh we want, three cream cakes, two more burgers-"

"Five more burgers!" Rin corrects.

"Yeah, five more burgers, two more drinks, another order of large onion rings and one of fries to and uh… you know what add two slices of tuxedo cake as well."

"My turn!" Rin cries, opening the menu.

"I want everything on this page." She says, pointing at the desert section. "Oh and a large fruit salad, with _only _orange slices and no other fruit at all okay? I need another espresso too." She says picking up an empty cup and thrusting it into the flustered waitresses hands.

"Uh… are your parents here?" The waitress responds.

"Nope. Just us, don't worry about money." Len says, holding up a wad of cash they found in the car they stole.

"Are you sure you kids can eat all of this food? You'll make yourselves sick."

"We're your customers, and customers are _always _right. Are you insinuating that we _shouldn't _be spending our money at your establishment? Because if so we can go to another restaurant just as easily. Do you _want _me to speak to your manager?" Rin shouts, standing up and getting in the waitresses' face.

"N-n-no ma'am. I'll be right back with your order." She says, her face lighting up red. She rushes off down the hallway and into the kitchen.

"Rin you're scary." Miku says.

Rin empties a glass of orange crush soda, then downs a handful of eight onion rings at once.

"God this is so good!" Len sighs, patting IA on the head while she drinks a bottle of ketchup.

Miku picks up a piece of leak out of her salad and shows it to Len.

"What is this?" She asks.

"It's a leek." Len responds.

"It's the best thing in the world!" Miku screams before swallowing it whole.


	10. More Shiny Blue Cards

**Thank you for all the positive reviews, I know my A/N are getting a little repetitive...**

**Hope you enjoy my newest chapter~! This will be the last update until Thursday unfortunately but this should be enough to satisfy everyone! **

**~_Tiruneko ;3_**

* * *

_X~10~X_

Len walks out of the restaurant holding Miku under his arm. She completely passed out after eating her fifth bowl of leeks.

Not even leeks cooked into anything, she just demanded that she receive a bowl of plain leeks. When the waitress didn't listen and Miku got disappointed Rin intervened and practically made the poor waitress pee in her pants.

Then Miku got her leeks.

Then she passed out.

IA sits on Rin's shoulders, holding onto her massive hair bow and pretending to steer Rin like a car.

"Where are we going to crash tonight?" Rin asks as IA accidentally pokes her in the eye.

"How about just the car? It's big enough." Len suggests as he boosts Miku back up into his arms.

Rin sighs. "I've been sleeping on a paper-thin _mattress_ with no pillow for the past two weeks Len. I'm not about to go sleep in a freaking car, we're going to a hotel."

"With what money?" He argues.

"They're probably tracking our credit cards already…" She leans on the car to think and IA pulls her hair accidentally. "Ow- IA stop it!" She yells swatting her small hands out of her face.

"Doesn't everyone have one of the shiny cards?" IA asks Len.

"Wait… IA you're a genius! Rin drive over to that corner store, we'll wait in the parking lot and jump the next guy we see!" Len says, throwing open the car doors.

Miku moans in the back seat, then stirs.

"Wah…? Len….?" She mumbles.

But the car is empty except for IA.

"Lenny and Rinny went to get more shiny cards from that man!" She cheers, pointing out the window.

Miku is astonished to see them. A man in his thirties or forties quivers like a leaf in front of the two twins. Rin is getting up in his face and waving a long bladed knife in his face, muttering threats.

"Please I have a wife and two daughters! Please don't hurt me! Here have my wallet!" The balding man tosses over a brown leather wallet into Len's hands. Len calmly begins to sort through it. He removes a driver's license, library card, a gym membership card, and a bundle of family pictures of two brown haired girls and a beautiful woman. Len slides the things over to the man's feet.

Rin snatches the wallet from Len.

"Where's your car?" Rin asks.

The man points to a large brown minivan with two bikes attached to the front.

"Keys?" Rin demands, holding out her hand.

The man hands over a key ring, and Len removes everything but the car key. "Now give me the cell phone." Len says, holding out his hand.

The man obeys and Len throws the phone to the ground, and crushes it under his foot.

"You are not to call the police until tomorrow morning. If you call the police before, expect thousands of dollars to be charged to each of your cards. If you chose to listen no more than two hundred dollars will be missing. Do you understand?" Len demands coldly.

"Y-yes!" The man says. He then turns and runs away as fast as he can, down the street, and around a corner.

"That was easy." Rin sighs, walking over to the van and unlocking it.

Len walks over to the old car.

"Come on Miku, IA. We got a new car." IA hops out and into Len's arms. Miku stays sitting.

"I feel like… what you… what you and Rin did to that man… was… was…. Was wrong." She says searching for the right words.

"It was." Len states looking at Miku plainly with a stoic expression.

"Then why did we…?"

"We had to Miku. There is a fine line between doing what you need to do to survive, and doing what is defined as 'right' by the eyes of the law. Do you understand?" Len asks hopeful. Miku nods so as not to disappoint him, but in all honestly, she didn't get it at all. Not a word he said made sense, but she is going to listen to them because she trusts the boy that saved her.

She steps out of the car, and walks over to the van with Rin. They all pile in and drive to the nearest hotel.

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

"Wake up! Get up!" Luka screams.

Kaito stumbles into consciousness and looks around the office to see everyone asleep and passed out in different places, except for Luka and Haku. Luka sits at a flashing and bright computer screen, her fingers flying over the keyboard with loud clicks.

"I said get _up!_" She screams again, landing a hard kick into Kaito's rib cage.

He cries out, then stands wearily rubbing his eyes. "What?" He says seething.

"A report has just come in from the local police in Iwaki!" She screeches giddily.

"Why is that exiting?" Kaito asks rubbing his eyes.

"Because, Iwaki is the closest city to our facility, and the report was a _mugging. _The man's car, along with his phone, cash, and credit cards were stolen. He was told not to contact police until tomorrow morning, and he describes his attackers as two blonde twins, one male one female, with piercing red eyes. He said they were wearing clothes all from a gas station just outside of town, and that the girl attacker had a large white bow on her head. He said he does not know the other physical attributes of the male attacker, saying the male never made eye contact with him. He escaped with no injuries, and says he thinks that they had no intention of harming him. He says his car is a brown minivan with two bikes attached to the front." She reads from the report.

"We found them? This soon?" Meiko says stirring barely from her sleep.

"We now know where they are." Luka states simply. "Catching them and keeping them from moving around is the interesting part." She says with a smirk.


	11. Many Years

**Moshi moshi dokushaaaa~! ^^ **

**Sorry I haven't been updating lately, as the end of the school quarter draws nearer for me, the more tests I have, which means the less free time I have for Miku and gang! :( **

**But I thought I owe you guys something for all the great reviews about last chapter~! **

**By the way... Less updates during the week means more updates over the weekend, but no promises ^.^ **

**Thanks To The following for reviewing and supporting! **

**`Lolly1o1**

**`HarmonianTraveller**

**`Aqua Sutano**

**`zhane 17**

**`awesome dt**

**Thanks for reading! And please review, favorite, follow, tell everyone you see within the next 48 hours, and of course enjoy. **

* * *

_X~11~X_

The motel isn't great, but it isn't bad either.

It is the size of a master bedroom in a two story house with one queen sized mattress in the center, facing a stand with a TV on it.

To the right is a door leading to a bathroom with one sink, a shower, and a toilet.

Len draws the shades, so no one can see inside.

"I'm taking a shower!" Rin cries with relief, closing the bathroom door behind her.

"Wait!" Len says, catching the door with his foot.

"What?"

"Take IA with you, she needs one too, and I'm not doing that." He says, shoving the little girl into the bathroom and shutting the door before Rin can protest.

Moments later the water turns on.

Len sits down on the bed next to Miku, who simply stares dumbfounded as the TV flickers to life and plays a children's cartoon loudly.

She stares like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. Just stares at it, the flashing lights illuminating her face in all colors of the rainbow in the darkness.

Len turns to look at her.

"Just a TV." Len sighs, leaning back on the pillows beside her.

"TV?" She responds confused. "I… I remember watching one of these a long time ago. Before… before…" She turns away from his gaze and paws at her hair nervously.

"Before?"

Miku sits in silence.

"Miku just how long, just how long were you in that cell?"Len asks, bolting up.

"A very long time." She replies with a deep sadness.

"How long?" Len presses.

With a reluctant sigh she responds. "Ten… ten years. I think."

Rin hears her brother shout in surprise from the other room as she pulls off IA's ripped and torn dress.

The warm water from the shower head fills the room with warm and comfortable steam.

"Ready?" Rin asks, picking IA up under the arms.

With a nod and a smile Rin places the girl under the stream of water. She winces at first, then holds out her small pale palms. Water puddles inside of them, and trickle out through her fingertips. She stares up at the faucet amazed. Light brown liquid rolls off of her body, carrying with it years of dirt and dust. Rin picks out chunks of hardened blood from the little girl's hair as she tosses water onto her face giggling.

"Is this your first shower?" Rin asks, confused at her down right joy.

IA nods.

Rin picks up a bottle of shampoo, and squirts some into her hands.

When her finger tips touch IA's scalp, the child jerks back, smacking into the back of the shower, bumping her head against the cold tile. Shampoo sprays into her eyes, and she sinks down into a sitting position, covering her face with her hands, and wincing in anticipation of torture.

Rin watches.

"IA…" She outstretches a hand.

The girl stays huddled and tense.

"I'm not going to hurt you like they do. I'm not bad like them. I won't hurt you." She says with her best soothing voice, but sadly that's something the demon girl isn't good at.

Gradually IA unravels herself from her crumpled position, and allows Rin to put a hand on her head.

_They'll pay. They'll pay for making a child so young be afraid of people touching her. I will see to it that they pay in blood, for everything they've done to us and Miku and IA. For everything I will make them pay. _Rin thinks bitterly as IA stares up at her with deep red eyes and a smile unlike any other.

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

Luka slips a pistol into her pocket, and a knife into her other. She pulls her hair back into a pony tail and turns to the group before her.

"Our destination is here." She says, pointing to a location on a map.

Yowane steps in, holding a sheet in her hand.

"… The report came in from a town about three hours away from here, if we drive at full speed. We assume that the group fled the site where they robbed the man, but is still staying somewhere close in the area. We have no information of a credit card transaction at this time, we're still waiting on some of the information on the card from the victim. We are going to start the drive into town anyways, once the information we need comes in, we will be able to act immediately if we're already there, understood?" She says quietly, but yet forcefully.

"Wait a second…" Meiko interjects. "Wasn't Shion suppost to be running this operation?" She says with a glare at Luka.

"If Shion was running the operation we'd all end up dead." The pink haired woman spits back, taking a step closer to Meiko.

"Excuse me? Kaito is _more _than capable of doing his job without you stepping in." Meiko steps closer to Luka, and rolls back her shoulders to become taller.

"If that was the truth I wouldn't be here in the first place, would I?"

Gakupo sighs and pretends to get back to his work on the computer, even though he is really just listening and watching out of the corner of his eye.

"You being here has nothing to do with Kaito's abilities."

"Oh really? Then answer me this, why the hell am I here if that isn't the case?" Luka says, stepping even closer to Meiko.

"You're only attacking him because you're _jealous _of him and his status in the company Megurine." Meiko steps closer again.

"The only _thing_ that could ever be jealous of that pathetic excuse for a worker is a rock or a child." Luka steps closer.

Without warning Meiko slaps Luka hard, across the face. Yowane's eyes widen and Gakupo whips around.

Within moments Luka has Meiko pinned to the ground and has landed a blow on her face, but Meiko quickly retaliates by rolling Luka, coming out on top of her. Luka kicks and thrashes, eventually head butting Meiko in the face, causing her to fall to the side slightly. Luka stands with all her strength, and kicks Meiko in the ribs. The brown haired woman staggers to her feet, and grabs a lock of Luka's hair, tugging on it fiercely, and pushing her into a nearby desk.

Papers fly around in the air.

"Knock it off!" Gakupo screams, attempting to step in. The moment he gets close enough to do something, Meiko punches him in the mouth. He falls backwards, and mutters a few choice words before deciding to ignore the situation entirely, and act as if it never happened.

Luka grabs Meiko by the hair, and pulls down hard.

"You incompetent hag! Kaito only dates you in the first place because you're the only one on this earth more pathetic than him! Seeing you makes him feel good about himself in the morning!" Luka shouts before landing a kick into Meiko's shin.

Meiko screams a variety of insults before landing a kick into Luka's side.

"STOP IMMEDIATELY!" Lilly screams, suddenly in the doorway. "Just what the _hell _do you two animals think you're doing!" She demands, marching into the chaos, taming it in an instant with her mere gaze sending chills down both of their spines.

Now Lilly, _Lilly _is the real thing to despise.

And the real thing to fear.

* * *

**Are you team Meiko, or team Luka? ^^  
**


	12. Rain Dreams

**Moshi moshi minnaaaa~! X3  
**

**FRIDAY FINALLY! ^^ **

***does little dance***

**Yes, I actually just got up, danced, sat back down, and typed this. It happened people. THATS WHAT HAPPENED 0-0**

**Anwayyyyysssss, Here is your highly anticipated (I wish ;p) chapter twelve! I will update tomorrow as well, like I always do. My other stuff will get updated too so don't worry about me ignoring that either if you follow my other stories.  
**

**Thanks to my new reviewer:**

**Manga-cats-anime**

**And thanks to my other regular reviewers (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE ;3)  
**

**Enjoy and tell ALL of your friends, co workers, family members, local homeless men , your teachers, pets, birds, neighborhood stray cats (trust me they know people), and more importantly write letters to your future self telling them to read this.  
**

**Hahahahah~**

**~_Tiruneko ;3_**

* * *

_X~_12_~X_

Len takes off his shirt and throws it on a chair in the corner of the hotel. He grabs the covers and slips under, putting his head on the pillow with a loud sigh.

Miku notices a long jagged scar running from his left shoulder down to his lower back.

"Len, what's that?" She asks, touching the old scar.

He winces as her soft and cold fingers graze the wound. "Nothing. Just something that happened a long time ago." He replies with a sigh.

"Oh." Miku is still sitting up, hitting every button on the remote to see what will happen.

The bathroom door creaks open, and IA comes running out, wearing only Rin's sweat shirt, which becomes a dress on her. She jumps on top of Len and lets out a shrill laugh and hits him lightly. Rin shows up in the doorway, wrapped in a white towel with dripping wet hair. She has an exasperated look on her face.

_That's the type of person that will never have children._ Len thinks to himself while wrestling the girl off of him. He leads her by the hand into the bathroom, past fuming Rin.

"She is a handful." She grunts.

"Yeah, because you ordered like three chocolate cakes and she ate them _all_." Len says with a laugh, blocking IA as she tries to run out of the bathroom again.

Rin turns, her face red. She always blushes when her brother proves a point. Being wrong is frustrating to her, almost always. Slamming the door behind her, she resumes attempting to dress IA.

Len walks over to where Miku still sits, absolutely entranced still at the TV. He flicks it off, and crawls into the bed.

"Are you going to take a shower after Rin? I think we should get out of dodge in the morning." He says, rolling onto his side.

"I guess but…" She trails off and looks at her fingers nervously.

"But?" Len asks, rolling back onto his back.

"I don't… know how." She replies softly.

With a sigh Len rolls, yet again, out of the bed. He knocks on the bathroom door.

"What!" Rin screams.

Len walks over to the bed, grabs Miku gently by the arm, pulls her in front of the door, clenches his eyes shut, and throws open the door yelling, "Heads up!"

Miku stumbles into the steamy bathroom, and turns around to find Len slammed the door in her face. She turns around, blushing.

With a sigh, Rin stands and turns on the shower again.

IA sits on top of the closed toilet, kicking her legs back and forth and picking at a loose string on her dress.

A few minutes later Miku sits on the floor of the shower, looking directly upwards and letting the warm water roll off her face and pool in her lap. Her hair sprawls out like a river down her back and over her shoulders, the water running along each strand makes her look like a virtual waterfall.

Rin stares, almost mortified at how skinny Miku is. No one should be starved like that. She digs in the pocket of her pants and pulls out an extra breadstick she was storing away for later.

"Here. " She says, handing it over to her.

"More food?" Miku asks.

"Just eat it okay?" Rin says, almost moved to tears. Almost.

Miku takes a bite, moments later she has eaten the whole thing in one bite. She looks back up at the shower head as Rin attempts to cover every part of her unbelievably long hair with shampoo.

"Ow!" Miku cries, her hands flying to her eyes.

"Sorry, sorry." Rin says, tipping Miku's head back more to keep the soap from draining into her eyes and stinging them again.

"Is this what rain feels like?" Miku asks after moments of silence.

"I guess but… colder and the sky is dark and the air smells beautiful. It smells fresh, and damp, but damp in a good way, not like smelling a wet towel or like mold but like… almost like taking a bite of mint and a drink of water at the same time, but with slightly less mint." After realizing how bizarre that sounded she speaks again. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that it just smells, amazing. It's hard to describe. I've never really had too before so I'm not really… good at it. But I try."

Miku nods, picturing herself standing in this fresh, good-damp, minty, not minty, beautiful, amazing, and indescribable rain. Normally when she had such fantasies about the outside world, it was only her alone. But this time it was different. It was still only her, but she knew somehow that in this dream world which she had imagined herself to be standing, Len, Rin, and IA weren't far off.

This made a smile form on her lips as a drop of salty water rolls off her chin, and lands in her lap, adding to the almost over flowing pool.

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

"We've been driving for _hours_." Meiko moans in the backseat of the company van.

"Yes. It takes a few hours to get there." Luka snaps back.

"Do you want to go again!" Meiko cries, leaning forward and putting her hands on the back of the driver's seat.

Luka swerves violently, and pulls over. She whips around with a wall of pink swooshing after her. Luka's crisp and blue eyes narrow, and she glares at Meiko, issuing one warning.

"We both know that fight was cut short by _her._ We also both know that she would kill us if she found us fighting again. Then again… you wouldn't be alive to kill. I am here to do my job, catch some demons, and not die. I assume you are here to do the same. If not get the hell out of my car."

Meiko's face turns crimson red and she reluctantly leans back in her seat, even though she _really_wanted to strangle the breath out of Luka's luscious pink lips, and feel her life crumble in her very hands as she laughed.

But to Meiko's disappointment that wasn't going to happen.

"Meiko is right though, how much longer?" Gakupo asks. "We could be losing them as we speak."

"I would like to say an hour and a half but because of that accident on the one-o-one freeway, we've been delayed a lot. We still don't even know where the heck exactly we're going. I'd say another two, two and a half hours. Maybe three if traffic gets any worse." She says with a frustrated tone. She stays as alert as ever, sitting straight up with both hands gripping the steering wheel tightly, and her pink lips pursed.

Kaito groans beside her in the passenger seat, and smacks his hand to his forehead.

"We're going to lose them, aren't we?" He mumbles.

"Wait, no I think traffic is breaking up finally." Luka says, with the same demeanor. "Yes, we can make it there in two hours _tops._"

* * *

**So far the votes are:**

**Team Luka: 3 votes**

**Team Meiko: 1 vote**

**Team Rocket: 1 vote**


	13. Dont Close The Shutters

**Chapter THIRTEEN! WOW. I never thought I would make it this far. **

**Thanks to everyone for supporting me and my stories! Special thanks to new reviewers:**

**`Dreamer 520**

**`Misa Kagekatsu**

**`Stormy Kittens**

**The rest that review every chapter, well, you know who you are. **

_**~Tiruneko**_** ;3 **

* * *

_X~13~X_

IA curls up next to Len and lays her head down in her hands. Rin is on the far left of the bed, Miku to IA's direct right. Her eyes stay open, although everyone's has already fluttered closed. Her fingers play with the torn string on her skirt. Her teeth thoughtlessly bite at her bottom lip.

Somehow something was wrong, and she could feel it. Len's chest rises and falls with his breath, as well as Miku's.

_Both are so warm. _She thinks, curling up again. Len moves slightly, then settles back down, still asleep. He smells like… like honeysuckle or cinnamon. She wraps her fingers around her hair and twirls it gently.

She wants to sleep like the rest of them, but somehow can't. She also wants to move out of the warm bed, but fears of disturbing anyone.

Very, very silently, she creeps out of the bed and tip toes to the chair in the corner, curling up and putting her head in her knees. Something feels so wrong to her. A little nagging voice in the back of her head screams, "Go, go and hurry." But without knowing what to make of this feeling she ignores it.

Her stomach gets queasy. The thought of waking up Len crosses her mind, but seeing how peaceful and relaxed he looks, she quickly puts that thought away. She can't possibly disturb Len.

She wanders over to the cabinet under the TV stand, and opens a large silver box. Cold air flows past her and into her face, making her eyes sting. IA rubs them, then sees all the food and drinks staring her in the face. Tentatively, she picks up a can of mango flavored iced tea and sips it quietly back in the chair.

Lights occasionally flow through the shutters to the hotel room. Her hands reach up, and pull open a small opening in the window.

Down bellow cars race down the street in the dark night. The window has a straight shot of the parking lot, and a certain car catches her red eyes. It is a white van with the words painted in black on the side. It says: CRYPTON HUMAN ADAPTION CORP. with the logo of a white hand grasping the sun with a C in the center.

She has seen this white van before. As it pulls in she racks her brain for where. Her heart pounds in her chest. IA doesn't understand why she is so scared. As long as Len is here, she'll be okay.

With a burst of painful, dark, and lonely memorizes, she remembers the car.

She jumps off the chair, dropping her tea and spilling it all over the floor. Her small hands grip Len's head tightly, and she shakes it back and forth screaming at high speed.

"Len, Len, Len, Len, they're here, Len, Len, Len we need to go, Len, Len voice! Len, they're gonna take me again, Len I donn' wanna go back to the darkness! Len, Len, LEN!"

His red eyes blink open slowly, to see IA clutching his face in her hands, shaking him back and forth. Her eyes are wide with terror and the noise of water splattering onto the floor comes with waking up too.

"IA, whose here?" He asks drearily, sitting up.

Before she has time to respond it hits him. Who else but _them _could make her so terrified?

He bolts up out of bed, grabs IA's pink jacket, and tosses it at her.

She puts it on wordlessly, shaking like a leaf.

"RIN!" He yells, once pulling his sweat shirt on as fast as he can.

She bolts up right, rubbing her eyes.

"Wha?" She asks just as her sweat shirt smacks her in the face.

"Guess who." Len says bitterly, stalking over to the mini fridge and filling the backpack with anything and everything it can possibly hold.

"God, how the, how the heck did they find us!" She screams as she nudges Miku awake.

"The credit cards. That guy must have told."

IA runs over to Len from the window.

She grips him with all of her strength, then buries her face into his sleeve to try and stop herself from crying.

"It's okay, we'll get away soon." Len says, placing a hand on her head.

"Len, seriously we've gotta run." Rin says, throwing on shoes. Miku sits up in a daze.

Rin tugs her by the wrist to her feet. The group stumbles to the door and throws it open. The hallway is mainly empty except for a woman getting a soda out of a vending machine.

"No elevator, we're taking the stairs." Rin says, stopping her brother from marching the dazed and tired group onto an elevator.

They all march down the stairs, IA almost tripping multiple times. Len glances down at her stoic face.

"How did you know they were coming?" He asks her, catching her again before she fell.

"I saw the car come." She replies simply, staggering to her feet again.

"Why did you think to look?" Rin asks.

IA simply shrugs before resuming running down the stairs.

The sound of the door opening about three flights bellow them makes the group go silent. Everyone exchanges panicked glances, and they all begin to run as quietly, and as fast, as they can back up to the top.

Once they break back into the hallway they bolt to the elevator.

"I was wrong! We're taking the elevator!" Rin cries, hitting the close doors button almost ten times.

Rin turns to Miku as the elevator drops floors slowly. She takes her long hair, and tucks it all inside the hood of her jacket, then flips the hood over her face, and zips it all the way. She does the same to IA.

She takes the bow out of her own hair, and removes the clips pinning her bangs back out of her face.

"Don't look _anyone _in the eye, keep your head down, don't move fast. Len I'm going to walk out with IA and go to the car. Follow thirty seconds later."

The panel above the door the elevator turns to read _one _and the doors slide open. Rin takes IA's hand gently, and they move swiftly out into the lobby and out the front doors, passing behind a woman with long pink hair speaking to the receptionist.

* * *

**Heheheh me and my evil cliffhangers X3**

**A Question For You:**

**-Which character is your favorite so far and why? I would like to get some feedback on my character development so far and I think that this is a good way to do it. Or I'm just crazy.  
**

**~TEAM STATS:**

**Team Luka: 4 votes**

**Team Meiko: 1 vote**

**Team Rocket: 3 votes**

**Dream Team: 1 vote **

**(those are the only fan teams I will include now. Unless of course I find your team very funny.) **

_**~Tiruneko ;3**_


	14. Sadistic Smiles

**Moshi Moshi Dokusha~! **

**Welcome to chapter 14, you're _highly _anticipated (sarcasm) new chapter of All The Fragile Ones! X3 **

**Thanks for all the replies to my character development question! I'm figuring I will get some more answers to that after this chapter gets posted but eh, who knows? **

**I will put up the results that I have so far at the bottom! **

**Thanks to new reviewers: **

**AriaScarlet**

**commentor**

**Guest**

**As for everyone else, I have either mentioned you before, or I just forgot you existed XD (which I hope didn't happen -w- but no promises that it didn't hahahahahahahaha~!)**

**Sorry I havn't updated at all this week BUTTTTT good news! I will be updating EVERY DAY next week due to _Fall_ Break! If not this story, one of my others! That should bring some smiles to faces heheheheheh :3**

_**~Tiruneko ;3**_

* * *

_X~14~X_

"Yes I'm afraid she got so angry about it that she decided to take her siblings and leave with their father's credit cards! I'm so terribly sorry for putting you through this, it must be confusing!" Luka says with a smile to the receptionist at the motel.

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry ma'am but there is really nothing I can do. I can't give you the key to their room without their permission." The poor woman at the desk asks.

Suddenly, realizing this conversation is going nowhere, Luka Megurine's entire demeanor changes. Her face suddenly becomes intimidating, dark, and focused. Her mere eyes could pierce your soul.

"There will be a judge meant. No one will be safe, I can guarantee you that. I will extract my judge meant on you, right now, with The Lord as my witness." She says, her voice as sharp as knives. Luka draws a small, black pistol with a large silencer attached.

The voice in her ear piece pipes up.

"Do what you need to Megurine-san. The cameras are down, we have control of the building." Yowane speaks.

A broad smile creeps across Luka's face.

Len motions to Miku to exit the elevator quietly. She moves to follow him. Without warning, Miku's sight is momentarily blurred by a bright flashing white light. Her sight returns moments later, paired with horrible feeling of dread. Her hand is enclosing Len's upper arm, with the strongest grip the weak girl can manage.

"What?" He asks quietly.

IA whips around in the parking lot, turning back to face the hotel. Rin turns to catch her before she runs off when a flash of white light crosses her vision, blinding her momentarily. IA is running away from her, back into the building.

"IA stop!" Rin screams.

The girl's long hair bounces up and down behind her in the air, as her small and thin legs struggle to carry her to the doors. Her small hands reach the handle, and she throws herself into the glass of the doors, bursting through them.

"LENNY!" She screams at the top of her lungs.

Luka turns around from her work to see target number three.

"Target in sight." Luka whispers into her mouthpiece. She fires two shots. IA's small and weak body flies through the air, and crashes into luggage carts. Blood sprays the waxed, fake marble floor. Miku whimpers in surprise as she watches her soar through the air. Len draws the long bladed knife Rin stole from the restaurant before.

"Oh little demons, where are you?" Luka baits, pacing back and forth in front of the dead receptionist.

Rin waits just outside the entrance to the lobby, pressed up against the wall.

"For every thirty seconds I have to wait for you to appear, another shot will enter her." Luka's perfectly manicured hands gesture to IA's seizing form on the floor. "One-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight-nine-ten- eleven…"

_On twenty._ Len thinks.

"fifteen-sixteen-seventeen-eighteen-nineteen…"

Len charges out of the elevator doors, running straight at Luka.

Rin bursts through the front doors, charging for her from behind.

Miku tentatively steps out of the elevator, watching with horror.

Someone grins in the shadows.

Four gun shots echo throughout the lobby. Not from Luka, but from someone else.

Len turns, his eyes wide with horror.

Rin sees just before coming crashing on top of Luka.

Miku flies into the back of the elevator with a shower of blood, and Kaito gets inside with her, closing the doors.

With a loud scream, Rin lands on Luka's back. Len tosses his sister the knife.

"Don't screw with us lady, who else is here." Rin demands, pressing the cold blade deeper into Luka's neck.

She simply laughs.

Rin's grip on Luka's wrist tightens as she struggles to grab the gun. Without warning Luka rolls her, and suddenly she is on top.

Rin spits into Luka's eyes and nose, blinding her temporarily. Luka shouts as the warm saliva stings her eyes and enters her nose. Rin brings her legs up, and kicks the pink haired woman straight in the stomach, sending her toppling off of her.

Rin leaps up, catching the falling gun in mid air.

An arm reaches across Rin's face, placing her in a choke hold, and pulling her hands up.

"We wouldn't want you shooting dear old Luka would we now?" A voice hisses with a tinge of joy into Rin's ears.

Miku cowers on the floor of the elevator as Kaito towers over her, a looming ominous figure.

"You've caused a lot of trouble for me. I was going to go easy on you, but sadly, that's no longer an option." His cold hands close around Miku's chin, bringing her eye to eye with him. "I'm going to break every bone in your body, and kill you one hundred times over, until you are a dead shell of a person, tortured by crippling amounts of pain every day. But it's only just. You've brought this upon yourself. But don't take it personally. This is for The Lord, and not for me."

The elevator continues to rise as he shoots Miku continuously, while punching and kicking as well. He twists her arm around his back, and snaps it right over his knee, like breaking a pencil.

She screams in utter agony, withering on the floor as her eyes leak crimson blood, and bile spills out of her mouth in a continuous stream.

Her sobs are no longer sobs, just blood curdling screams to no one, so distorted and loud they sound like that of a true beast from horror stories and the darkest fairy tales.

"Demon child!" Kaito screams at her through his laughs. "I-Will-Break-YOU!" He screams at the top of his lungs, laughing with an utterly sadistic smile as he pulls the trigger yet again, emptying the clip.

"Oh well, we're here anyways." The elevator utters a small and quiet ding. Kaito pauses. "I'll answer your obvious question, since you can't bear to utter it. I'm going to make it so that you will _never _breathe, never walk, never speak, never _blink _again without feeling as if your _heart _is being torn out of your body over and over again. That is my humble promise." The doors slide open, revealing the sun peeking just up over the horizon in the distance.

They've reached the roof of the building.

* * *

**Favorite Characters:**

**Miku- 4**

**Meiko- 1**

**Len- 1**

**Rin- 2**

**IA- 1 (MEEEEEEEEE~! Ia Is my favorite to write always, guess 'cause she's my favorite vocaloid but whatever! I couldn't let her go without no votes :C!)**

**Team Luka Vs Meiko**

**Team Luka: 5 votes  
**

**Team Meiko: 2 votes**

**Team "Rocket": 3 votes**

**"Dream Team": 1 vote**

**Team "Destroy Lilly": 1 vote**

**(Fan teams in "")**

**~As for my favorite team... well... its a secret... 0x0 Hahahahaha**

**~_Tiruneko ;3_**


	15. Sweet Drops of Red

**Just a random thing I thought some of you IA fans might like... for a halloween party coming up I'm cosplaying as Ene from Kagerou Days ( Heat Haze Days) Heheheheh~! Good Idea right?  
**

**Anyways back to things actually related to the story, chapter fifteen! Personally I think this is the BEST cliffhanger I've thought of in a while! MWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAAHA!  
**

**Thanks for all the fan feedback, not listing reviewers today unfortunately, but I will next chapter, so just a general thank you to reviewers as always!**

**Enjoy minna! :3 **

**~_Tiruneko ;3_**

* * *

_X~15~X_

Rin feels Meiko's grip tighten around her neck. The ground bellow her twists around and blurs as she struggles to break free. Meiko holds her just above the ground as Rin kicks and thrashes, trying to keep hold of the gun.

She opens her mouth to yell to Len, but Meiko's hand comes around and grasps Rin's mouth. Making her shouts muffled whines.

Rin sinks her teeth into Meiko's hand until blood is drawn. The woman yelps, but doesn't let go.

"Lights out." Meiko says with a smile, drawing her own gun and pressing it deep into Rin's back.

Out of nowhere a suitcase flies through the air and smashes into Meiko's head, knocking her entirely over. The gun goes flying as the brown haired woman crashes into the receptionist's desk of the hotel with a loud thud and a whimper.

Len reaches out a hand to catch the falling gun but someone else grabs it first.

A man with long purple hair stands, holing the weapon.

"Now, now, what do we have here?" He laughs out while tapping the barrel against his palm.

Len takes the knife he had been concealing inside his pocket, and draws it, suddenly lunging forward and imbedding the shining blade into Gakupo's arm.

He catches the gun as it comes sailing through the air.

"Rin! They took Miku!" Len screams, panicking as he now tries to hurry IA over his shoulders.

Rin lands a punch into Luka's jaw, but is thrown back into the wall, sending her gun skidding across the floor. Meiko rushes forward with a cattle prod, attempting to stun Len before he gets to Rin. She knows the only way to take the twins down, is to separate them.

On their own, Rin and Len, aren't good fighters. Together, they can practically take anyone down.

IA stirs back into consciousness, seeing only chaos around her. A blood soaked receptionist desk, Len covered in blood, Rin pressed up against the wall by a strange woman. A man is on the floor, gripping his arm and screaming in pain. Another woman she doesn't know is hurting Len.

Hurting… Len?

"Hurting… Len?" She asks.

Nothing about her voice was different. It was the same, innocent little insignificant sound that had cried out in the darkness for so long, but this time, everyone heard.

Luka stared out of the corner of her eyes, Gakupo stopped screaming to watch, Meiko narrowed her eyes, ready to make a move, Rin turned her head ever so slightly to see. They all stare right at IA.

As if frozen, no one moves as she walks to the middle of the room and picks up the gun.

The sleek black weapon is raised up in such small and quivering hands.

Everyone in the room seems to almost, "turn back on". They all flip back into action. Luka screams, Gakupo shouts something inaudible, Meiko swears, and Len smiles.

IA pulls the trigger.

Meiko leaps away from Len, sliding across the floor, barely missing the bullet. Len crumples to the ground and regains himself. He rushes forward, snatches the gun away from IA, but she grips his arm, stopping him.

She started out walking, then jogging, then sprinting, gradually gaining speed as she runs toward Meiko. As the woman is rising from the floor, IA jumps on her back, wrapping her thin arms around Meiko's head, and pulling back with all her weight, brining the woman into a kneeling pose on the floor. Her small legs kick into Meiko's sides furiously, but unfortunately due to how weak she is, it doesn't do as much damage as she hopes it would.

"Get, get off!" Meiko screams, flailing for her gun.

IA sinks her teeth into Meiko's neck.

She screams as IA bites deeper, making little growling noises.

Len scrambles to pull Luka off of Rin, wrapping his arms around Luka's waist and pushing his thumbs up under her rib cage, he manages to catch her off guard long enough for Rin to knee her in the stomach.

Luka spits up all over the floor and Rin's legs.

The blonde girl lunges forward, snapping Luka's neck back uncomfortably, and kicking her in the mouth hard enough to shift three of her teeth out of place.

"Die, die, die, die, die!" Rin chants, while wailing into Luka with every amount of energy she has left.

"Rin, we gotta go, they have Miku!" He cries, trying desperately to get her away.

"Len…" IA whimpers, pulling on his pant leg while he tries to pull Rin off of Luka.

Len whips around.

"Who's that?" IA asks pointing down the hall.

A woman with long silver hair pulled into a pony tail stands in the doorway, holding two assault rifles, one in each hand.

On her face is an expression void of any emotion.

"Yo." She states simply before beginning to fire.

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

Kaito pulls Miku out of the elevator doors as she desperately tries to get away. Every desperate movement to break free comes with a spray of blood from her hair.

"Come on, come on, don't make it worse on yourself!" Kaito seethes, his voice sounding like gravel and knives in a blender.

"NO!" Miku desperately screeches as she claws at the ground.

His hand slips on the cloak of blood covering the girl. She bolts forward, slipping and coming down again not too far from him. She slithers and claws to get forward, inching across the roof like a snake, leaving a trail of blood behind her. Tears sting her eyes as the man grabs her by the back of the neck, and tosses her through the air like paper.

She comes crashing down moments later on the other side of him.

_Move, move, move, run away, come on legs, move!_ Miku screams inside her own head, struggling to break free of the prison of her weak body.

Kaito's cold hands grip her chin. He drags her off the ground, holding her only by the nape of her neck. He stalks forward to the edge of the building as Miku scrambles in his arms.

With one swift movement he thrusts her over the edge of the four story building. Her broken legs sway in the wind of day break like red ribbons.

Kaito begins to chuckle, then giggle, then laugh hysterically, bringing tears of joy to his own eyes. A shadow creeps over his face, shielding his gaze from Miku. Which is probably for the best.

You could say Kaito Shion was on the brink of insanity.

You could say he had always been this way.

You could just say he is an evil and truly despicable human being.

But either way, it would be appropriate to label him as such.

A tear rolls off of Miku's check and falls to the ground, disappearing into the still dark shadows of bellow. The sun rises behind her swaying bloody body, making the beads of red stuck to her look even more brilliant and bold.

Kaito runs his finger up Miku's check, drawing a drop of blood, he places it on his tongue and smiles.

"So sweet. I will have to draw it more, and more now won't I?" He laughs.

The teal haired girl clenches her eyes shut, tears clinging to her eye lashes. Her frantic goodbye scream reverberating violently to everyone's core.

And a shot rings out.

And Miku goes flying through the air.

* * *

**Fan Favorite Character Count:**

_**Vote for your fav characters via PM or review!**_

**Miku: 5  
**

**Meiko: 2**

**Rin: 2**

**Len: 2**

**IA: 4**

**Luka: 0 (poor tuna!)**

**Team Luka Vs Meiko**

**Team Luka: 5 votes  
**

**Team Meiko: 2 votes**

**Team "Rocket": 3 votes**

**"Dream Team": 1 vote**

**Team "Destroy Lilly": 2 votes**

**(Fan teams in "")**


	16. Frantic Sobs

**Shonen, Shojo, I bring you chapter sixteen. **

**I made this one 400 characters longer than usual~!**

**Gosh I love writing Rin's character! She's just so BAD ASS! You'll see what I'm talking about momentarily. Hahahaha**

**Thanks to all reviewers for chapters 15 & 16:  
**

**AnimeAddictLoverEverTrue**

**AriaScarlet**

**awesomedt**

**zhane 17**

**Dreamer 520**

**Vector Zero**

**Lolly 1o1**

**Lynn 'Ne'-chan**

**Lumeria**

**Aqua Sutano **

**_~Tiruneko ;3_**

* * *

_X~16~X_

And Miku goes flying through the air.

"NO!"

It seemed to happen in slow motion. It seemed as though she was in a daze, and this was all a dream. But the pain made it real. Isn't it scary when things are real?

Miku outstretches her hands as her hair whips around her in the wind. Her eyes widen and she bites her lip to keep from screaming.

And reality snaps back into place, and she was falling.

Her hands scramble rapidly, clawing at the air. A shadow hurdles off the edge of the building just above. The shadow gets closer and closer, until two arms are wrapped around Miku's waist, and she is pulled into someone's arms.

To think that all happened in an instant.

And then they were on the ground, lying in a pool of blood.

Rin stalks furiously over to Kaito Shion. Her eyes spit poison. Kaito slowly backs away, reaching for his gun.

Rin fires another shot, just by his head. Kaito squirms, almost screaming. The gun is empty. Not her gun, but his gun. Her hand shoots out, grabs him by the collar of his shirt, and she rams her head into his forehead.

"You think you can control us. Our lives are not sick little games. We aren't playing anymore you little ass hole!" She spews at him, slashing with her knife.

A cut opens just on the blue haired man's forehead.

"This is our _lives. _You've stolen our lives! What gives you the god damn right! Who gave you the god damn authority!" She screams at him.

"Thou must not take The Lord's name in vain." He mutters with hate.

Rin's eyes snap open and she stares at Kaito confused.

"You must be punished." He says with a smirk, brining his hand up and punching Rin across the mouth with all of his force.

She raises her leg and knees him in the side of the head with every ounce of energy she has, flinging him across the roof.

She cocks her gun and points it at his body as he drags himself upwards.

"Go ahead. Shoot me."He teases.

Rin shoots a bullet into the roof bellow her feet, sending cement shrapnel every direction. IA runs and hides behind the stairwell back downstairs. She clenches her eyes shut, and turns around, unable to ignore this ringing in her ears.

It started when she was shot the first time. The ringing came with that. But now it's a high pitched buzz.

She grunts, covering her ears and shaking her head back and forth to clear it.

IA hears Rin and the man yelling at each other, and she hears the gun shots. But this buzzing, this whining noise is hurting worse. She bites her lip to stop from screaming out.

"Shoot me hell child! Shoot me and watch me die right here, right now! Stain yourself with _more _blood red eyes! Do it!" Kaito laughs the whole time, smirking.

"Unfortunately, you and I both know, that won't happen. As much as I would like to put a bullet in your skull a thousand times over, I just can't end your life. I want to shoot you in the face and ruin that smirk. But I guess your arm will do just fine!" Rin pulls the trigger, shooting a bullet into Kaito's left arm. Blood sprays the roof top and he begins to shreak and scream with pain.

His body writhers on the floor as more blood sprays and flows from his wound, Rin walks away, not looking back.

"You! I will make you pay for this! There will be a judge meant! There will be a judge meant, and the hand of god will strike you down!" He howls like an animal, as he watches the blonde sling subject three and a backpack into her arms.

Rin walks to the edge of the building, and sees a large oak tree just a few feet away.

_I can make it._ She thinks, backing up to the opposite end of the roof. She takes a deep breath.

"IA, do, not, let, go."

She charges forward, her feet smacking into the concrete with deafening force. The edge of the building touches her feet, and when the other one reaches the same point, she pushes off, sailing through the air.

Her short hair gracefully floats around her, making her look like an angel flying in front of the rising sun. Things would be easier if that was true, but unfortunately it isn't.

As she begins to approach the tree, she also begins to drop rapidly. IA floats upwards as they fall further, but she hangs on as Rin's arms flail in the wind, desperately searching for a branch.

IA screams as Rin's hand grips a long and thick branch tightly and they swing forward, crashing and embedding themselves among the branches and leaves.

Bellow them, Miku pushes herself up off of the shadow. Something rises in the back of her throat, and suddenly thick blood flows in between her lips. She spews the thick crimson red liquid out and all over the ground beside her, staining the perfectly manicured hotel lawn.

Her head swims, and within moments she loses all sense of space. The green eyes of hers struggle to stay open, fluttering closed every other second. The shadows in her vision clear and she feels the bones in her broken arm and broken legs setting back into place. She is too tired to scream.

She glances down to see the shadow bellow her.

A certain blonde haired boy is bellow her, covered, no, drenched in blood. If it wasn't for his distinct scent and hair color, he would have been completely unrecognizable.

Him being the one who broke her fall seems to hurt the worst. His scent and presence chokes her as she moves her broken fingers to touch the side of his gushing face.

As her soft pale fingers graze his skin, like a fairy dancing on the surface of a pond, she clears a trail of blood free skin. But this trail is completely erased as more blood from his head moves to cover it up again.

Miku can still feel his arms pulling her in and shielding her from _this. _

Tears burn the corners of her eyes and she begins to weep. Her now un broken fingers move to clasp his head in her hands. She grips him tightly, feeling his skull plates shift as she does this.

She pulls herself into him, feeling her head squish into the puddle of blood on his shoulder. Miku holds him as tightly as she can, and she sobs.

"Len…" Her injured lungs scream as she speaks. "I-I-I don't know what to do… I don't know…"

Honeysuckle and cinnamon fill her blood caked nose as she buries herself into him.

A hand touches Miku's back but she doesn't move. A pair of arms reach under her arms, and pry her off of Len. This new person lays Miku next to Len's nearly dead form. Miku's fists grip the grass as she sobs more hysterically.

"Lenny…?" IA cries, looking at his mutilated form.

Rin sighs, heaving Len over her back. Blood runs down her shoulders and she looks down at IA.

"Stay here with Miku, I'm going to bring the car around for you two."

"Lenny?" IA questions, standing up and reaching for the blonde boy with her small arms.

Rin stalks off into the parking lot, scanning for their car. Her eyes spot the minivan, and she runs forward being careful not to be seen. As she jogs over to the door she sees none other than Meiko leaning against it, holding a knife in her hand.

"You little-" Without saying a word, or even thinking, Rin's hands reach out, grab Meiko, and she bashes the woman's head into the side of the car. She kicks her hard in the rib cage, sending her sprawling across the parking lot and out of the way.

With her blood covered hands Rin flips up both of her middle fingers and spits on Meiko's unconscious face.

"Serves you right." She mutters, unlocking the car and lying Len across the back seat. Rin then pulls down the other set of seats behind, creating a big open space in the back of the car, connecting the seats to the trunk.

She props up Len's head under the backpack and jams the keys into the ignition.

IA watches the brown van pull up and skid to a stop in front of her. Rin steps out of the driver's seat and heaves sobbing Miku over her shoulder.

"You get to sit in the front like a big girl IA." Rin says in her best baby voice, as IA watches trying not to cry.

The seven year old blonde demon girl swipes tears out of her eyes with the back of her bloody hand, and nods, bounding over to the other side of the car and pulling herself with difficulty into the passenger's seat.

As they pull away past the hotel Rin sighs, glancing at the clock on the dash board.

"I haven't even had a full four hours of sleep and the sun is already up. What a great day _this _is turning out to be." She moans, turning on the radio, and stomping on the gas.

* * *

**Fan Favorite Character Count:**

_**Vote for your fav characters via PM or review!**_

**Miku: 5  
**

**Meiko: 2**

**Rin: 3  
**

**Len: 2**

**IA: 5  
**

**Luka: 0 (poor tuna!)**

**Team Luka Vs Meiko**

_**Support the cat fight! X3  
**_

**Team Luka: 5 votes  
**

**Team Meiko: 3 votes**

**Team "Rocket": 3 votes**

**"Dream Team": 1 vote**

**Team "Destroy Lilly": 2 votes**

**Team "Pancake" (because I love pancakes): 1 vote**

**(Fan teams in "")**


	17. Her Restless Sleep

**Hey guys!**

**Chapter 17 is here, I promised I would update every day this week ;3**

**This chapter is centered mainly on IA, even a little flashback at the end~!**

**Well enough of this, :3 **

**Thanks to reviewers as always, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!  
**

_**~Tiruneko ;3**_

* * *

_X~17~X_

"Miku, come on wake up now." A cold hand taps on Miku's cheek. She moves slightly, but stays asleep. "Come on leek head. Get up." The voice says again, irritated.

Miku sits up very slowly, rubbing her eyes and glancing around.

"Where…?" She mumbles incoherently.

No answer comes. A hand moves Miku into a sitting position and leans her up against something. A wet and soggy thing touches her forehead and a cold liquid trickles down her face. Her eyes strain to see in the bright light.

"I-" She begins.

"Hush." The voice says, wiping the cold rag against her face again.

"Len…" Miku whimpers.

"He's fine. Just way out of it." The voice replies, rubbing at a clot of hardened blood on Miku's cheek. Rin hovers over her, a wet cloth in her hands. Her face shows frustration and exasperation. Her bangs dangle in her face.

Light streams through the car windows, stinging Miku's eyes. A form lies next to her, and behind Rin is IA.

IA puts a chip on her tongue and realizes Miku has caught her eye. She reaches out a chip to the disheveled teal haired girl.

"She can't eat right now." Rin says, taking the chip and eating it herself. "Hand me one of the water bottles IA."

"'Kay!" She cries happily, digging in the backpack and pulling out a water bottle. She thrusts it into Rin's hands.

"Len…?" Miku asks, blinking once and clearing the fog in her eyes. She looks around her, every which direction. Miku sees IA's face, Rin's irritated expression, but no Len. A noise escapes a silhouetted form beside her. Turning her head she feels something snap in the back of her neck. She yelps but still reaches out to the form. "Len!" She almost screams, her hands gripping his shoulders desperately.

"Hey!" Rin yells, grabbing Miku by the wrists and tugging her hands away from him. "Don't touch him, he's still really unstable and hasn't finished healing yet."

The teal haired girl struggles in Rin's grip, muttering Len, Len, over and over.

"Stop." Rin growls, pushing Miku a little forcefully up against the side of the car. Her red shaking eyes don't leave Len's form.

With a grunt Rin takes Miku's chin in her hands, moving her face to look her in the eyes.

Miku stares at Rin, panic flooding into her veins. "_I'm going to break every bone in your body, and kill you one hundred times over, until you are a dead shell of a person, tortured by crippling amounts of pain every day." _His words flood into her head.

"NO!" She screams, flailing and scrambling away from Rin, pressing herself up against the very back of the car.

Rin stares at her in bewilderment.

IA drops her bag of chips, and crawls over to where Miku shakes. IA sits up right in front of Miku, as the girl sweats and quivers. Her small, pale hand reaches out, and grips Miku's hands in her own. She doesn't break eye contact. A small frown is on her face. She pulls Miku forward a little bit until they're eye to eye. Without warning IA jumps on top of Miku, curling her small arms around Miku's waist. She puts her head on top of the girl's bloody shoulder.

"Rinny is the good guy. She's not the bad guy." IA whispers gently.

Miku sniffles and tears begin to stream out of her eyes and land on IA's head. She sobs and screams, gripping only onto the shoulders of a seven year old.

"They-they-they we're going to- he-he-he was going to-!" She sputters, then just chokes on her own sobs.

IA laughs, only gripping Miku harder.

"Lenny wouldn't let them hurt you, see?" IA replies softly.

Miku nods, tears rolling off of her nose and spilling out onto IA's face.

"But it… this buzzing in my ears won't go away!" She cries louder.

"It will." IA says, lifting her head to make eye contact with Miku.

Rin watches them and utters a dry sigh. Ever since she was young she was bad at comforting people. It wasn't something that ever came easy to her. Whenever she tried to comfort Len in the past, or let alone someone else, she always made it worse.

_All I'm good for is fighting. _She thinks angrily, climbing back up into the front seat of the car and starting to drive again.

"I-I did this to him. I-I-I!" Miku sobs, clinging to IA like a life preserver.

"No. Lenny did it. He wanted to catch you, or he wouldn't have ran over like that. He just went, woosh and flew off after you!" IA says with a smile and a laugh.

The sobbing girl pushes tears out of her eyes as the car lurches out onto the road.

"But, he won't wake up now, will he?" She cries.

"I think… he will."

Curled up in the front seat a little while later, staring out the window, IA drifts into a light sleep. Her hands curled under her face, her legs tucked under her chest, her head leaning against the glass of the window, warmed by the afternoon sun.

"_Come on!" A voice cries eagerly, grabbing the three year old by the hands. They had played and played until exhaustion, and finally caught each other. _

_A boy with silver, almost white hair, tugs IA up the side of the very tall hill. _

_With the rising sun catching her hair, she dug her feet into the grass mumbling some excuse. _

"_Don't be such a fraidy cat!" That boy cried, pulling her behind him. _

_The more they ran the lighter their footsteps became. The boy let go of her hands, picking up the ball and tossing it to her. IA throws her hands over her head as the ball rolls past her. _

_She mumbled some cowardly excuse. _

"_Fine we can play tag again!" The boy with green and blue eyes cheered, suddenly chasing after the little girl on their small legs. _

"_No, no!" She cries covering her face and running to the edge of the hill. _

_Only it wasn't a hill._

_The boy follows. Without warning IA breaks, curling into a ball and rolling away from the top of the hill, she tumbled down and heard him scream. He had continued to run. _

_As fast as her little legs let her, she had scrambled to the edge of the cliff and looked off to see the boy floating and spinning in the air. His hand outstretched for hers. _

_But she was too afraid to look. Instead she turned to run. But she had slipped anyways. _

Their tangled screams carry to the present, snapping IA awake.

"You okay?" Rin asks, glancing into the passenger's seat.

IA nods, pressing her hand against the warm glass.

Her small lips open to whisper something to the sky.

"Huh?" Rin asks, turning to IA.

"Nothing." She says with a smile and a nod, staring out the window at the road and the glaring sun.

* * *

**Fan Favorite Character Count:**

_**Vote for your fav characters via PM or review!**_

**Miku: 5  
**

**Meiko: 2**

**Rin: 6  
**

**Len: 2**

**IA: 5  
**

**Luka: 0 (poor tuna!)**

**Team Luka Vs Meiko**

_**Support the cat fight! X3  
**_

**Team Luka: 5 votes  
**

**Team Meiko: 3 votes**

**Team "Rocket": 3 votes**

**"Dream Team": 1 vote**

**Team "Destroy Lilly": 2 votes**

**Team "Pancake" (because I love pancakes): 2 votes**

**(Fan teams in "")**


	18. His Unreadable Face

**I know, I know, I said I wasn't going to update today, but I couldn't resist! I guess it's for the best anyways, I made this chapter EXTRA long too~! ^^ **

**A little bit about the twin's and Miku's past is revealed, as some of you have suggested, but not too much, because I'm just not ready to give their secrets away yet. So as a general message, I'm starting with IA's past, then I will move into the rest of the back stories. **

**Thanks to some new reviewers:**

**`Kainoavocaloidfan1**

**`XxKingArthurlllxX**

**Thanks for checking "All The Fragile Ones" out guys, It means a lot to me that I have so many people that enjoy my story this much to stand by me and it. **

**Thank you, minna!**

**~_Tiruneko ;3_**

* * *

_X~18~X_

"I can't believe it."

"Get over it we lost." Meiko spits as she finishes washing away the blood stuck to her hair. Luka stands, clenching her bruised fists together.

"Because of _your _carelessness!" She spits at her.

"Oh ple-ase." Meiko says, pushing her aside and walking to the other end of the hotel room.

"You're reckless, uncontrollable, you don't listen to your superiors and your under qualified for this assignment in the first place! Lilly should have _never _put you on this team if she had wanted it to succeed. You are going to be responsible for everyone's death, you and your insane little boy friend!" Luka hisses, gesticulating wildly.

"I'm not wasting another breath engaging you in this petty little argument Megurine." Meiko slams the door behind her.

Yowane is standing out in the hall, leaning against the side of a soda machine and lazily playing with the pop tab on her energy drink. Her right eye is covered by a gauze bandage, and her entire left arm wrapped in a thin cloth. A large cut is on her right shoulder.

"You two need to bury the hatchet Sakine." She states simply.

"What did you just say?" The brunette hisses.

A hand on her shoulder stops her from knocking the fizzy purple drink right out of Yowane's hands. She turns slowly and sees a blue haired man with a sling surrounding his left arm. The arm is covered in excessive amounts of gauze and small drops of red soak through. Upon seeing him in this condition tears slowly creep into Meiko's eyes, but she quickly pushes them away. She plants a delicate kiss on Kaito's cheek. His skin tastes like sanitizer and peroxide. But Meiko doesn't care.

"Kaito…"

"I'm fine, really I am." He says, using his good arm to pull her into a hug.

"No you aren't. They- I can't believe what they- I'll make them pay. I will make them pay for what they did to you honey. I swear I will." Meiko spits, using her hands to gently stroke the side of Kaito's ghastly pale skin.

"I will make them pay myself Meiko, there's no need."

"I don't like to take no for an answer Kaito." She says, glaring at him. "They _shot _you. That won't be forgiven."

"I'm not asking you to forgive them darling. I'm asking you to let _me _be the one to choke and drain the last bit of demonic life out of their small, shattered forms, and feel their bones break in my hands, and lastly, taste that sweet, sweet blood as it leaks from their _eyes."_

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

IA outstretches a hand full of sunflower seeds to a sparrow bouncing around a small pond.

"IA stop giving our food away, birds can get their own food." Rin calls over to her as she helps Miku out of the van and to her feet. IA outstretches her fingertips to the small sparrow. It flies away to the nearest branch and watches her from there. She sighs, eating the seeds herself and sitting down on the rocks surrounding the pond.

Rin, having realized they couldn't possibly roll into a town in this condition, pulled over into a forest about an hour ago. They drove around on this dirt path that they now stand on until finally they found this small pond.

IA kicks her feet back and forth in the chilly but comfortable water. A lily pad floats across the surface of the water, and brushes against her ankles.

It feels like something familiar, but familiar in a bad way. It felt just like that time where a rat brushed up against her ankles in the darkness of the cold room. She shivers, remembering how when she finally got the courage to move it away from her feet how it was already dead. It starved to death in the unforgiving darkness in which IA lived.

But that was a while ago, and things were different since Len. Len showed her light, and she will never let that go.

Miku inches towards IA, until her shoulder brushes up against the girl's head. She follows the little girl's example, also dipping her feet in the cool water. A koi fish with brilliant gold and orange fiery shades nibbles at Miku's blood soaked toes.

She yelps and pulls her feet out of the water, terrified.

"It doesn't hurt, watch." IA puts her feet deeper in, allowing the fish to swim over. She giggles as the fish's small mouth pecks away at her toes.

Rin comes up behind them with Len under her arm. He is slouched over painfully, one arm gripping his steadily bleeding side, the other slung lazily over Rin's shoulder. His feet drag uselessly behind him, his head hung so low his eyes are invisible, covered by the shroud of blonde and red hair.

Rin gently sets him down in the water, and begins to try and pull his shirt off. Len cries out, then shakes his head slowly no.

"Don't be stupid Len, I have to take your shirt off to deal with your injuries."

With a reluctant wordless agreement, he allows his twin to try again. He moans and yelps with pain as the fabric seemingly bonded to his skin is slowly pulled off, breaking dried and clotted blood that is attached to his skin, which sags painfully onto his shattered ribs, which jab painfully into his lungs.

Rin mutters almost silently under her breath, "I'm sorry." About ten thousand times.

When the once white T-shirt is removed, Miku sees the extent of his injuries. His skin lies unevenly over his nearly entirely shattered skeletal frame. Blood seeps through his skin, showing severe internal injuries. Clumps and bunches of black, hardened blood cling to his nearly non-existent blonde chest hairs. Rocks and pebbles from the asphalt are imbedded in his skin.

"Len…" Rin sighs, tearing a section off of his ruined shirt to use as a washcloth. "You reckless bastard, How many times am I going to have to play nurse?" She groans, starting to wipe away the blood clumps.

"As long as-" He winces in pain, his voice coming back strained and shallow. "- they're chasing us."

Rin laughs a little. "We both know it will be quite a while until _that's _over."

Miku sits up. "Why are they after us?" She asks, refusing to even glance Len's direction out of shame towards what she caused him.

"We're actually not really sure. Ever since we were young and our parents first found out we're- well ya' know, they called the church and rushed us to the priest. He told them to call this little 'effed up mad house where we were locked away for a few years, until we figured out we can beat them and run away. We've been kinda' doing the same thing ever since, we're just trapped in this crappy little loop. You two are the only other's alike we've ever even heard of. As for the reason why they want us in the first place, well that's pretty self explanatory. We're basically immortal freaks. They have the perception that when released into the public we'll cause mass hysteria and chaos. Which is pretty accurate, people do tend to run away from red eyed demon twins and etcetera. But something else has been bothering me about the whole thing. Almost everywhere the 'researchers' (code word for total sadistic sociopaths) seem to always mention God, and the judge meant. I dunno anything about that. Honestly I just think their off their god damn rockers. Oh, sorry IA, forget that word. Anyways, in short, I have no idea."

"Oh." Miku sighs, kicking her feet back and forth in the water.

Soon she catches herself looking up, and accidentally meets eyes with the boy who she caused so much pain. His gauze, unreadable. But then again having only been around kind people for not even a full week, Miku is pretty bad at reading others.

She turns away, her face turning crimson red.

IA stares off into the distance, watching the clouds roll by the sun. _This day is just like that one._ She thinks wistfully. Without realizing it she was almost about to start crying.

"Ok Len. Now we just have to wait until your bones and organs finish repairing themselves." Rin says, slipping her feet into the water and lying down in the grass for a break.

"The weather is so great today!" Rin shouts, using her hand to shield her red eyes from the sun.

Miku sits in the water, watching Len silently. His movements are painful, his expression is painful, his whole situation is painful for her. Especially knowing _she _caused it.

"I-I'm sorry!" Miku cries suddenly.

Len raises his head slowly, and a smile crosses his face.

"If you honestly thought he was mad at you, then you don't know Len at all." Rin says, skipping a stone across the surface of the water.

That is the hot headed blonde girl's way of comforting people. Honestly, it isn't the best way to go about it, but it's a lot more effective than you would think.

"Sheesh Rin- you-could've been nicer." Len chokes out.

"Y-y-you aren't m-mad?" Miku snivels, looking up at Len with her shimmering red eyes.

"Wh-why on earth would I- be mad?" He says painfully as one of his ribs un-breaks itself.

"I-I-I did this, I did everything!" Miku sobs. "Everything, everything since I was born is all my fault, and I don't mean to do any of it! I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!" she screams hysterically. "I don't know why I killed daddy, I don't know why everyone is afraid, I don't know why everyone looks at me like that, I don't know why I don't die, why isn't I don't die! It's all so confusing! I don't want to feel like this anymore. I've never been happier in my life but yet I'm so sad! How is that even possible? I don't want to be alone anymore!"

"Don't you ever say that again." Len says angrily. Miku stops, horrified. "Don't you _ever _say you're alone, _ever _again. Because you're not. No matter how alone you think you are, we will always be here. We will always be on your side, so you're never alone again."

She continues to cry, but a different type of tears this time.

Tears of joy.

* * *

**Fan Favorite Character Count:**

_**Vote for your fav characters via PM or review!**_

**Miku: 6  
**

**Meiko: 2**

**Rin: 6  
**

**Len: 2**

**IA: 5  
**

**Luka: 0 (poor tuna!)**

**Team Luka Vs Meiko**

_**Support the cat fight! X3  
**_

**Team Luka: 5 votes  
**

**Team Meiko: 3 votes**

**Team "Rocket": 4 votes**

**"Dream Team": 1 vote**

**Team "Destroy Lilly": 2 votes**

**Team "Pancake" (because I love pancakes): 2 votes**

**Team "Plasma": 1 vote**

**(Fan teams in "")**


	19. Blazing Dreams

**I know I know, I should be doing more with the twin's past and Miku's past but I'm not ready yet! DX **

**I promise I will once I get past the IA flashbacks and her back story, then I will do the other's. Even the villains will get one! **

**Thanks to Natsumi Sakurai, it means a lot to me to get reviews like that. **

_**~Tiruneko ;3**_

* * *

_X~19~X_

_A match was struck and held out in the setting sunlight. The fire flickered gently with the wind. The crowd was silent. Everyone held their breath, waiting. Someone stands in the center of the attention. A girl with long, pale blonde hair braided sloppily looks up slowly, a trail of blood dripping off her eye lashes. _

_Her thoughts were blurred by a loud buzzing in her ears, and an occasional white flash of light in her vision. _

"_Mama where Piko?" The small girl asks, looking up at the woman holding the match. _

"_He's dead, and you killed him. You're an animal." The woman spits at her. _

_The girl recoils, never hearing such language before. She slowly reaches her hands out to grab onto her mother's shirt like she always did when she was scared. _

"_Mama why are they watching?" _

"_Die you devil!" The woman screams loudly, suddenly tossing the match down on top of the approaching child. Her hair within moments explodes into a steady blaze. Within seconds the fire has advanced, cloaking her in orange and red flames. They lick her skin, no claw at her skin, melting it off into puddles on the floor. _

_A horrible agonizing scream rings out. The worst kind of scream. If you weren't there to watch the spectacle, but could hear the child's agonizing screams, well, you wouldn't have been able to distinguish them from that of a monster. _

"IA!" Len calls. A hand is on her quaking shoulder as she lies in the grass just outside the van, sleeping. The sky is dark and starry with a shinning crescent moon. Just like that night.

The buzzing steadily fades from her ears. She moves her head slowly to see Len's concerned face hovering over her.

"You wouldn't stop thrashing around, and you started screaming." He says worried. IA simply nods in response, holding back the tears she knows are about to come.

Her small balled up fists fly to her eyes as salty tears stream through her fingers.

"IA, what's wrong?" Len grabs her by both shoulders, watching her squirm and cry, helpless to stop it. "It was just a dream... hey, hey come on now, it was just a dream, were here."

"It wasn't a dream though Len-voice!" She screams at him, tears flying around in the sky.

The door to the van flies open and Rin storms out angrily.

"The hell is going on out here?" She yells angrily, running a hand through her matted hair. She points a finger at Len. "You shouldn't be moving, lay back down before I kick you back down and you- IA?" She says, walking over and bending down beside her.

"It was so hot!" IA screams, nearly clawing out most of her hair. "I-I-I have to put it out!" She screams desperately. "I have to pull it out to stop the burning!"

Rin and Len exchange worried glances.

"P-piko." IA whispers between sobs.

"Piko?" Rin asks, bending down to meet eye to eye with the hysterical IA.

Without warning the small girl jumps to her quivering legs, and runs forward at all her speed right into the pond. Her arms thrash around in the water, she screams all the while. Miku sticks her head out of the window in the van, her eyes wide and confused.

Len moves to run into the pond after her, but Rin stops him, running forward herself. She runs with difficulty after IA, her clothes heavy and sticking to her skin, weighing her down.

"Relax, relax IA." Rin shouts, trying to calm her. After taking a few slaps to the face Rin grabs IA under the arms, and raises her above her head, carrying her out of the water as she squirms in her arms. By the time she has fully dragged her out of the water and brought her back by the van, IA has completely stopped struggling. Instead she lays almost asleep in Rin's arms.

"Now if that's over with-" Rin says before landing a slap across Len's face.

"HEY!" He yells angrily.

"Lay the hell down, I don't want you moving anymore until you fully repair yourself. Now I'm going back to bed, and _no one _will wake me up until morning, got it?" With that Rin slams the car door shut, leaving Len and IA outside to sleep in the grass, staring up at the stars.

_What was that about?_ Len thinks, slowly moving his hand to brush hair out of the little girl's eyes. She moves slightly in her light sleep, but doesn't wake.

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

A bag of chips slaps into Miku's face, jarring her awake violently with a small yelp of surprise.

"Morning Leek Head." Rin grumbles between bites of food.

"When I meant wake her up Rin I didn't mean throw food at her face. Sheesh." Len says, before taking a long swig of a yellow energy drink.

"God how can you drink that stuff? Banana flavored energy drink? That's disgusting." Rin groans, recoiling at the over powering scent.

Len puts her in a head lock, rubbing his fist on top of her head as she shouts at him to quit it. "Says the girl addicted to orange flavored candy!"

Miku approaches them cautiously, opening the bag of chips and taking a small bite.

"Knock it off Len!" Rin yells, shoving him away. He tumbles out of the car door and lands in the grass, rubbing his head. "I'm gonna go walk around and try and find the road again, I literally have no idea which path we took." She states simply, jumping out of the car and jogging off down a nearby path. Her bobbing blonde hair disappears into the trees, leaving Miku and Len standing outside in the grass, and IA sleeping by the pond.

After moments in silence Len speaks up. "Hey Leek- I mean Miku. Do you remember yesterday when you were crying you were talking about all the stuff you didn't know?" Miku nods. "You said 'I don't know why I killed daddy.'"

Miku's eyes widen with horror and she turns away from Len, avoiding his gaze. Her fists tighten and she stops eating.

"What did you mean?" Len asks, cautious towards her reaction.

"… I… I don't like to talk about… those days." She says, her voice barely audible.

"Oh… okay." He replies plainly, curiosity eating at him.

IA sits up, rubbing her eyes. "M-m-morning." She mumbles, crawling over to Len and resting a head on his shoulder.

Rin's footsteps travel into their small little camp by the pond and her blonde head comes back into view.

"There's a town not too far from here, be ready to go in ten!" She shouts.

Before he stood up, Len could have sworn he heard IA mutter the same name from last night.

Piko.

* * *

**Author Question: Who is Piko and what connection do you think he has to IA? I want to make sure I'm shaping this flashback relationship between them correctly!  
**

* * *

**I'm no longer putting in the teams and characters, takes up too much time to keep going back and copy and pasting. I'll start putting it up again as we move into later chapters, but for the next few if you're that curious go back to chapter 18 to look. **

_**~Tiruneko ;3**_


	20. Her Story

**This chapters a little sad, but sometimes sadness is necessary to a story, ne?**

**Enjoy as always minna! ^^**

**Thanks to reviewers:**

**`InsertStupidNameHere**

**`theunhappytwins**

**`zhane 17**

**`awesome dt**

_**~Tiruneko ;3**_

* * *

_X~20~X_

They had all been staring out the window for some time now, looking out, enjoying the weather, the sun, and the road before them. The city was a ways off, but that didn't matter to them.

Rin laughs about some petty thing Len had done a while ago, Miku giggles softly in the back seat beside IA. The music plays the steady beat, the beautiful spring song. But one of them didn't laugh, buried in her thoughts.

"Len, tell me a story!" Rin cries as she drives along the road.

"What why?" He asks.

"Because I'm bored." She replies simply, turning off the radio to hear his words.

"I don't have any stories. What about you Miku?" He asks, turning around in the backseat to face her.

The girl with teal hair wearing blood stained clothes shifts uncomfortably, shaking her head. Len's gaze falls upon IA. Her cheek is pressed against the warmth of the window, her hands curling up into fists then un curling and playing with a loose string on her skirt. Her red eyes reflect back in the glass, and they look solemn and grim for such a young child.

"What about you IA?" Len asks, probing for a response. She has been dead silent since this morning, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

"Story…." She trails off. "I don't have any worth telling Lenny."

"Well, how about tell us what's on your mind then?" Rin suggests.

"Just thinking… about those days." Without further prompting she begins to ramble on and trail off, telling a story without even meaning to. No, not telling a story. She is telling her story. "This day is like those, with the sun the right way, the branches swinging in the breeze. Mama said, 'Go do something, get out of the house for a while.' So we did. He took me with him like we always did. We went to our usual spot, but I got bored and wandered up a hill just outside of town. Mama had always said stay away from the hill, but he didn't stop me, so we went. He told me stores, pat my head, bother me all the time. He taught me a game, that I didn't like so he said, 'let's just play tag instead.' He chased me all around, chased me like always. He caught me over and over again, I just kept losing, and wouldn't get up to run anymore. But he picked me up again, like always, and we kept playing. I ran too close to the edge of the hill, and ducked and rolled away, but he kept running." Tears sting her eyes, burning and making her vision blurry. Rin and Len look at each other, stunned at her memory.

"You don't have to tell anymore-" Rin was about to say but she keeps going, as if Rin had never said anything at all.

"I went to see where he went, and I slipped too." Her words are barely audible through the tears now. "The wind was so fast, and his voice was so loud in my ears and I wanted it to go away so I cried. The buzzing in my ears wouldn't go away! The flashing in my eyes wouldn't go away! It hurt so bad when the wind stopped racing. It hurt so bad… all his red was falling away. He looked at me, really slowly, with this... happy face. The red was rolling off of his face really fast and-" IA uses her sleeve to rub away the tears streaming down her pale cheeks. ". He was watching me. He said something but I didn't hear him, he said it so happy too. But I never knew what it was. He was smiling so much, I didn't know why! He just kept talking to me, telling me it would be okay, and I watched him fall asleep. He never... he never woke up. Mama came along eventually and saw me holding him. Mama was mad, she cried and cried and I told her it was okay. She cried and cried and told me I did it, she said I pushed him! She cried and cried, and hurt me when I touched her.

"Later everyone was around me, everyone was yelling. It was so loud and the buzzing in my ears wouldn't go away. Mama said it was my fault he was… she said it was my fault and then I was wet and she held out the flickering orange flower, and then it was so hot and the heat wouldn't stop.

"Then they took me, and it was dark for a long time. Then I heard you, Len, but I thought it was him. But you're just like him." As her story goes on the tears fade, and with the last word she seems to let out a sigh of relief, her eyes returning to their normal upbeat gaze, and the last of the tears dripping off her nose and into her hands. "I'm not going to cry anymore though, because you're here."

"IA…. Who is the 'he' in your story?" Len asks, his face covered with an expression of horror and sadness.

"Piko. Big brother Piko."

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

The two blonde twins stand outside the family bathroom, waiting for IA and Miku to finish using the bathroom and cleaning up a little bit. Rin leans up against the wall, arms crossed over her chest, a bored expression on her face, lost deep in thought.

"Everyone… everyone thought she killed her brother, and her mom burned her alive in front of everyone she knew Rin. Then the corporation showed up and took her away and locked her up in the darkness for who knows how long. That just…" He throws his fist into the wall, sending out a long thump through the corner store just outside of the closest city.

"None of it is right Len." Rin whispers softly. "Nothing they do is justified in the slightest. All they do is hurt."

"I just don't even get it anymore Rin." He shakes his head back and forth slowly. "I don't want to look at their crying faces anymore. I don't want to have to see either of them cry ever again, because it hurts to watch. It's sickening. I can't stand it. I just want them to be happy for once in their messed up lives. They shouldn't have to live this tragedy anymore."

"Len, all of our lives are tragedies in their own right. No matter how sick and twisted the plot is, there is always tragedy worked into the main frame." She sighs.

"But it shouldn't have to be that way."

"But where would we be without it?" Rin says. Len's eyes widen, realizing something his little sister did a long time ago.

"You know what's funny?" He laughs.

"What?"

"I'm nearly two hours older than you but you're still years smarter and you make me feel so dumb sometimes."

Rin walks off, punching him hard in the shoulder. "That's what I'm here for."

The sun beats down on the grass and trees just outside the store. The wind blows gently through the trees, swaying the branches ever so gently and making flowers rock in the wind. The weather is perfect and amazing.

Just like those days.

But these days, these days are happier.


	21. Warm Laughter

**Not too much to say before this chapter, so I will say this to you, dear loyal readers. Please enjoy, as always. **

**Thanks To Reviewers:**

**`FairySnoop: I normally don't address reviewers directly in the chapter, but I think you deserve it for one of the best reviews I've gotten. So I personally, in front of the people skimming this author's note, thank you. **

**`Lolly1o1**

**`zhane17**

**`awesome dt**

**And yes, I promise in next chapter I will write more on "I killed daddy" from chapter 18! So no worries, I will soon answer all your questions!**

_**~Tiruneko ;3**_

* * *

_X~21~X_

"Len there is no way in hell I'm ever wearing that." Rin groans as her twin teases her with a hot pink dress covered in silver sequins and white ruffles. She makes a disgusted face, and pushes the dress away. The department store is nearly empty, just a handful of middle aged women and their children, too preoccupied with their busy lives to notice the four strange red eyed kids sorting through the clothes.

IA comes bounding out of the dressing room, nearly crashing into Len. Her eyes glow and shimmer with excitement. She is wearing a black T-shirt with white stripes and a light pink pleated skirt. She has knee tall white socks with two matching pink stripes over the top. She has red sneakers lastly, with the laces sloppily tied.

"That's the one?" Len asks, putting a hand on her head. She nods so fast she nearly makes herself dizzy.

Miku comes walking out of the dressing room, blushing. Her eyes stare at the floor, her mouth covered by a black scarf. She is wearing a grey tank top, not the type with the spaghetti straps, just a basic tank top. She has a black mini skirt with teal stripes at the bottom and black flats for shoes with tall basic white socks. The scarf she is wearing is wrapped around her neck, covering her mouth entirely. The tails of the scarf are nearly as long as her hair with tassels at the ends.

Len sighs, still sifting through the rack of male's apparel, looking for the right thing. He hears Rin utter a small cheer, and hears her footsteps fade as she runs into the changing rooms to try on what she found.

IA holds out a white button down T-shirt with a small collar. The fabric is thin, and it is basically Len's size.

"Hey thanks." He says rubbing the top of her head.

"No, no, stop it!" She whines, swatting his hand away laughing.

Miku stands behind them, with a sly smile. She is holding out black cargo shorts that go to knee length, and a black and orange stripped hoodie. Len extends a hand, grabbing the hangers of clothes from the two. He has come to realize Miku doesn't like talking much. It seems to make her uncomfortable and quite nervous, probably due to lack of social contact. Len nods to her as he walks away, flashing a smile at her. Miku blushes and smiles back, the action barely visible due to her enormous scarf.

While the two twins change IA rushes forward, grabbing Miku by the hands and nearly shouting in her face. "I love this!" She cries, throwing her arms up in the air, and spinning until she falls down. Miku laughs.

The curtain to the changing room slides open, and Rin comes out, adjusting the zipper on her jacket. She is wearing a white shirt with a V-neck with three buttons at the top. The sleeves stop at her elbow. She has on a pair of black shorts. Her feet slip into black sneakers. The jacket she wears is a brown windbreaker, almost identical to Len's except for the fact that the inside of it is stripped maroon and black and also is made out of a slightly different material, and the outside of his is orange and black striped. Her hair is pinned back with four white clips, and a white bow is on her head.

She feels the girls' eyes on her, and she blushes, turning away with a detestable expression.

"I-I like it." Miku says, smiling at Rin.

Len comes out next. He is wearing the crisp button down white T-shirt IA grabbed, and the shorts and jacket Miku picked out. His hair is pulled into the usual short but high pony tail.

"Well if you're going to look like that I'll pick something else." He murmurs under his breath, digging in his old pockets for the old wallet and for what's left inside. He motions Rin over with a bizarre expression on his face, whispering to her. "We don't have enough."

"Just leave what we have on the bench in the changing room and let's bail." Rin uses her newly-purchased pocket knife to saw the tags off everyone's outfits, and once the cashier has walked in the back to help a customer, they all rush out the doors, smiling at the setting sun and the crisp smelling air. "Oh yeah, this is spring at its finest!" Rin cries, clasping her hands behind her head and looking up at the sky.

"Let's get the bikes off of the car!" Len suggests, running out to the parking lot.

"There's only two." Miku points out. "A-and I've never rode one before…" She adds, trailing off at the end.

"Ride on Len's handle bars, I'll take IA in the basket on the back of mine." Rin says, pulling one of the black bikes with a basket down from the rack on top of the car. She lifts IA from under her arms and places her in the basket.

Miku nervously sits on top of Len's handlebars, gripping them tightly as he tears out of the parking lot and onto the busy streets filled with people. Miku stretches out her arms, unfurling them like wings, and begins to laugh suddenly. Just a happy, truly happy laugh, with the widest smile on her face you would ever see in your life. The group rides off down the busy streets, making a game out of weaving through the crowds as fast as they can.

They rode off into the sunset, Miku's teal hair and black scarf whipping around in the evening air as she laughs and smiles like never before.

These days, are happier.

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

Rin walks over to Len, placing a hand on his shoulder as he stares out of the hotel window. Miku and IA are both in the bathroom, gawking at their newly clothed reflections in the mirror.

"I hate this." Len mutters.

"I know, I do too, but sometimes we have to steal. You know that Len." Rin says, sitting beside him and putting a hand on his back.

"It's not that…" Rin glares at him, and he corrects himself. "Well yea it is that but it's also everything else." He pauses for a long time and before he speaks again Rin already has opened a orange flavored soda and is sipping it gingerly beside him. "I want to just find somewhere, some big city somewhere to just… settle down in for a while. If I keep doing this I feel like I'm going to drive myself insane, and those expressions on their faces… Miku and IA, I just think that they deserve this break the most. They need this Rin and so do we."

"Len we can't just entirely forget about running, you and I both know staying in once place for a long time causes a lot of problems that were nearly impossible to fix. You and I both grow attachments to people, that's natural, and we both grow to accustomed to staying in one place. We can still enjoy ourselves while we are still on the move."

"But where are we even going to go? What's your master plan Rin? Keep running until we fall of the face of the Earth?" He snaps, standing and glaring down, fuming at his sister who stares at him like he's an idiot.

"What do you mean what's the plan? Isn't the plan what it's always been, you moron?" She groans. "The plan is to find out why we're like this in the first place. The plan is to extract information from the corporations when we can, and from other sources."

"What other sources? And I'm pretty sure the last time we ran into the corporation they killed us numerous times, what do you suggest Rin? That in the middle of that chaos we play 'prime time investigation show' and sit them down for a nice cup of coffee and go, 'oh by the way, why the hell have you been tormenting us our entire lives?' Cause I'm sure that will work out just fine."

She lands a hard slap right across Len's face, stunning him momentarily. Len hits back after a stunned moment. Rin lashes out, grabbing Len by the hair and pushing him, face first into the carpet, rolling him and spitting right in his eyes. Len pushes her hard, and now with him on top, he punches her in the chin. His sister immediately throws her head into his, landing a fierce head butt that sends a loud ringing shooting through his ears. Rin forms a fake gun with her fingers, presses it into Len's forehead.

"Bam. Dead." She says simply with no emotion.

Len starts to laugh, and it slowly gathers energy, developing into a fully fledged _laughter._ Rin laughs back, until they're both almost hysterical on the floor. Miku watches with a bizarre, nearly horrified expression, borderline panic. IA simply claps her hands together, uttering her milky high pitched giggle.

Oh yes, Rin knew just how to subdue her hot headed brother. It had never been hard to figure him out, he was, after all, always by her side. Eventually Miku begins to laugh quietly, until the whole group is involved in a large circle of bizarre, therapeutic laughter.

Anyone looking in, even a stranger from the side of the road would think to themselves for a moment, and find it quite hard to resist laughing themselves. This was the funniest thing to the group, who kept laughing, even after the joke had worn off.

And standing here, Miku thinks to herself one simple thought that had never crossed her mind before.

_This, this is enough for me. _

* * *

**Author Question: What do you think of the character's outfits? I re read and re read those descriptions over and over, especially Rin's. I wanted to make their outfits reflect their personalities as accurately as possible through their clothes, and give each one of them a unique style. Like at first I had Rin wearing maroon tights and a hoodie instead of a wind breaker, but I soon changed that. I also had Len wearing a solid color jacket, but thought he deserved something a little... cheerier? I'd love to hear some comments and feed back with this!**

**Thanks**

_**~Tiruneko ;3**_


	22. Shimmering Red Eyes

**Yes, I know I said I would do more with Miku's back story, but I decided it was time for this. **

**You may be confused at first but keep reading until about the sixth paragraph, then you will understand why I'm taking this detour. I'm exited for feedback on this chapter because I've been DYING to write this one for a while! ^^**

**Thanks to reviewers:  
**

**`Zhane 17**

**`awesome dt**

**`Lolly 1o1**

**`Guest**

**Sorry about this chapter being late! I've had a busy week but I finally managed to post it for today. Please Enjoy as always~!**

_**~Tiruneko**_** ;3**

* * *

_X~22~X_

A loud vibrating beep echoes through out a bedroom, sending violent chills up a girl's spine. She mumbles something under her breath and pushes herself slowly up into a sitting position on the bed, rubbing her right eye. With her eyes still not adjusted to the day light, her hand flails wildly as she tries to shut of this obnoxious noise in her room. She leans to far in, and slips off her bed. Arms flailing rapidly to stop herself from falling, she grips the crisp white sheets, pulling them down with her, and landing in a heap on the cold wooden floor, the alarm clock still beeping.

"Ow." She rubs the back of her head, eventually finding the OFF button and pressing it gently. The clock is white with a blue star over the big SNOOZE button. It sits by a grey desk lamp and a glass of water. A red touch screen phone with a blue star keychain sits just next to the cup, almost dangerously close considering the girl's clumsy tendencies.

Her dainty and manicured hands with white French tips pick up the phone, opening an internet browser and quickly scanning over a blog about a manga she enjoys, but is dismayed to find no new posts. She sighs and sets the phone back down, moving to pick up the white sheets.

After re-making her white bed with grey and hot pink pillows, she turns to open the light pink curtains in the room. Sliding them aside she reveals a bustling and busy upscale city. Her small house is one of many small town houses overlooking a beautiful and lush green park. Directly across from her bedroom window is a swing set and a very tall cherry tree. Beside the tree that casts a shadow over a brown bench is a blue slide, currently occupied by a little boy with sandy blonde hair.

At first the morning light burns her eyes slightly, but the girl adjusts, soon moving to a closet in her room and picking up a white towel. She moves slowly over to her door, pushing it open with her free hand. The hallway is just as immaculate as her room. Spotless, yellow glowing hardwood floors, a small, well trimmed potted houseplant, perfectly strait pictures and painting hanging on the wall. Her bare feet walk against the cold floor as she slides open the bathroom door closing it behind her, and glancing at her reflection in the mirror.

The girl has a skinny and tall frame, with flawless skin, and silky hair. Her voice is soft and almost intoxicating, her cheeks always a natural shade of pink, and her light pink glossy lips with a natural sheen. Her hair is hip length and a crimson red, with one piece sticking straight up, and dropping down. This hair piece is the bane of her existence, no amount of product or care will get this piece of hair to lie down flat. Her eyes travel around her figure, dancing around every inch, finally making eye contact with herself in the mirror, and what looks back, are those shimmering red eyes.

With a dry emotionless sigh she begins to run the shower, and steps in for a quick rinse before work.

Afterwards, she tiptoes back into her room, slipping into the uniform. The work uniform is a long sleeve pink shirt with a white apron over matching white shorts. Scrawled across the front of the apron in bold pink letters is YUAKRI~CAFÉ. It's a small restaurant the girl's friend owns.

Suddenly a loud buzzing causes the red head to reach for her phone, almost slipping in a pool of water her dripping hair has decided to create on the floor.

"H-H-hello?" She says quietly, afraid to wake her parents and sister.

"Miki!" A voice whines loudly, causing the girl to jump. "You're late and we're sw-a-m-p-e-d!" The voice on the end almost screams into the receiver.

"I-I am!" She cries, pulling the phone away from her mouth and looking at the time. With a loud and nervous shriek she throws her phone into her pocket and throws open the door to her bedroom, nearly crashing into a smaller figure bellow her.

A short girl, about the age of nine, stands in front of Miki's door, her light brown hair tangled into knots and mats all over her head.

"Miki, help me please?" She whines slightly, leaning into the legs of her big sister.

"Yes but I have to hurry okay? Are you ready to go this time?"

The girl nods, causing more hair to fall out of place, her brown eyes staring up at Miki. With difficulty, the red headed girl manages to sort out pieces of her sister's hair, and tie them into neat brown pig tails on either side of her head.

The girl is short, with brown hair, brown eyes, and fair skin. She has a few freckles just under her eyes and is wearing a red pleated skirt and a white tank top. The brunet lastly has black sneakers and a red backpack with a small pink bunny charm.

"There, come on Yuki, I'm late!" Miki grabs her younger sister, and scoops her up into her own arms, carrying her on her shoulders as they run through the house.

"Miki, what about Mama and Papa?" The girl named Yuki asks, leaning down and only slightly pulling on Miki's hair.

With a gulp Miki responds, "Don't worry angel. I'm watching you today!" She says happily as she sets the girl down in her bike basket, and sits on the seat. "Be careful, and hold on as always." Miki warns in a soft tone while adjusting a pink helmet on the girl's small head.

Although the pair is not biologically related, Yuki being from Miki's mother's third marriage, Miki chooses to dote on her younger sister hand and foot, because if she didn't, there wouldn't be anyone to do it. The home life of the two children that live in a seemingly stable environment, is actually extremely chaotic. Miki's mother is a work-aholic, sometimes not even coming home until far after mid night. She runs her own dermatology clinic, which is a business that pays very well, but also requires a lot of work to own. She spends unnecessary hours cleaning her office spotless, and even going through the computers and files of her employees, as paranoid and OCD she is. Miki's step father is simply an alcoholic, who, having committed insurance fraud, is now very rich, but sadly his money is slowly dwindling away on beer and wine. Miki's biological father died in a car crash when she was Yuki's age. Her mother's second husband cheated on her, so she divorced him. Her third husband was around for the longest, and that's how Yuki came to be. He packed up suddenly and left, claiming Miki's mother was too controlling, over bearing and even calling her a neglecting sociopath. It's a wonder why he left Yuki if he thought that. The current alcoholic inhabiting their basement is her mother's fourth husband.

Ridding down the sidewalk, plagued with small businesses and gift shops isn't too bad. The morning summer air is crisp and smells of slight rain shower, but it is expected to reach very high temperatures throughout the day today. On the pair's right hand side is the seemingly endless ocean, filled with surfers, tourists, and an assortment of sea life.

The thought of taking Yuki to the beach after school crosses Miki's mind, and she silently decides to do it later.

After about a ten minute bike ride, they pull up to a small beach side café. Inside is buzzing with commotion, people milling around, sipping coffee, and blabbing to their friends about how tireless their new job is or how "horribly disappointing" their new boy friend is. A girl with purple hair pulled into pig tails wearing the same outfit as Miki, waves her hand in the air dramatically. She is standing behind the counter, cleaning out the coffee machine.

"Sorry, my alarm went off too late and I-"

The purple haired girl cuts her off. "Don't worry about it!" The girl notices Yuki hiding shyly behind Miki. "Hi Yuki!" She bends down to her level and waves. "You have kitchen duty this morning Miki, I'll take care of setting up Yuki."

"Okay, thanks Yukari." Miki ties up her hair and slips a hair net over it. Something glistening in the sunlight catches her eye, and she walks over to see what it is. It is a dirty carving knife someone forgot to put into the sink. Miki's hand slips on the damp counter, flinging the knife into the air. As it comes crashing down she catches it by the blade, leaving a massive and deep bleeding cut in her palm.

The cut created two slits opening seemingly to a black and red crevice in her hand. Blood flows steadily and rapidly off her hand falling onto the floor and pooling there.

Shocked, and attempting to hide the massive wound, she spots the freezer in back, and decides it's best to stay there. Miki pushes past people in the kitchen, some she knows, some she doesn't. She bumps into a girl chopping up leeks, and bounces back a little, still pushing forward for the vegetable freezer. Once inside the giant cold room she bends over her hand to examine the cut.

The skin on her palm is smooth and flawless, maybe even pale. She brushes away the blood still pooled in her hands. Breathing a dry sigh of relief, she stands up to leave the freezer.

Her palm is bare, and smooth, the only remnants of the cut being a very small drop of blood, still running down her manicured finger tip, and dripping onto the floor.


	23. Bitter Familiarities

**[UPDATED AUTHOR'S NOTE]**

**Okay, I have decided on when I will begin to address Miku's back story, I will start next chapter! ^^ Yoshi! [Sorry, I lied. I completely forgot that I even put this in here heheheh, I actually still don't know when I will address her back story, I'm still working on some other stuff and advancing the plot, but I promise, it will come, in due time.]****  
**

**Sorry about being late on updating this one, I had a lot of make up work to do from being sick for a week but I'm finally back on track now. **

**Thanks for reading, as always, **

**_~Tiruneko ;3  
_**

* * *

_X~23~X_

"Yes?" She answers quietly, even shyly almost, pressing the phone up to her cheek and speaking in tentatively. Her long, silver hair cascading down her back, spilling out over her shoulders and into the seat of the chair she sits on. The voice on the other end of the receiver is familiar. Not familiar in a good way, like someone whom you wished to remember, but for the life of you couldn't, not the type of familiar, where a kind voice was lost to you for years, but the type of _familiar _face that you prayed to God to forget. The voice is gruff and deep, but yet sharp and distinguished, sending shivers rocketing up the normally emotionless woman. Everything in her life, every possible misfortune ever to befall a person, came from the man on the other end. This is the one thing Haku Yowane fears. Hiyama Kiyoteru.

"Hello Haku. Nice to finally speak with you again." It is a formal greeting, something a business partner would say to their boss, or maybe even something a child would say to their friend's parents, but the hidden malice spoken with each word is felt by Haku, felt to the _core _of Haku. And it rocks her, sending her rocketing upwards, now standing in her small quarters in a sister building to Crypton Human Adaption Corp., called Vocaloid Worship Studies Centre. Haku gulps, her hand tightening around her small purple flip phone. "Oh don't be so naive that you don't believe I can hear you shaking Yowane. I've known everything about you since you were the height of only my knee. Don't think you can hide your fear." Suddenly his voice drops to a whisper, feigning on sounding seductive, and it would have, if not for such venom in the words. "I can hear you breathing Yowane. I've found you."

With a loud cry, sounding almost like a shriek, she throws the phone across the room, sending it flying into a small metallic cross hanging on the wall, where it smashes into pieces, flying every which way. Her chest rises and falls rapidly, hyperventilating as she hears the metallic thud of the phone hitting the brass cross.

_He couldn't have… I worked so hard to… to get away from him… he couldn't have… God… oh my Lord what… what have I done to deserve such torment from your hand? You promised to save me from him… you promised to save me, God. Please… _She thinks rapidly, slowly lowering herself back into the chair, and folding her legs up into fetal position. She clasps her hands before herself in prayer, whispering panicked phrases from the bible at rapid speeds.

In the middle of the rapid cries her mother's words echo in her head. Not her fake mother, but her real mother. The one that held her when she cried as a child, the one who told her it would be okay when she was humiliated at school, or tormented by nightmares. Haku had asked her mother one cold winter night after the death of her cat what happens when you die. Her mother replied simply with a handful of words. Only six words came from her lips, and they spoke volumes to her, even as a grown woman.

"_Wouldn't humankind just love to know?" _

Haku stops mid prayer, sitting up and raising her tear stained face to the cross on the wall. The cross that shattered her phone. With a loud grunt of frustration, Haku leaps up, stalking over to the metal T shaped object and staring it down. It wasn't anything special really, a brass letter T with not even a single design. She uses her hand to angrily swipe it off the wall, sending it clanging loudly onto the floor.

As of this moment there is only one thing Haku Yowane knows.

That somewhere, out there in the sick and twisted world with its falsities and poison beauty, there are four children. Four children with red eyes who will bring about the destruction of humanity. And it is her job, to kill them all.

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

"Rin, remind me why we're here again?" Len groans, tapping his finger tips on the counter at a local book store.

"Because, I want something to actually _do_ that doesn't involve _driving _like bats out of hell away from an enemy, that as far as we know, doesn't even know where the heck we are." She shoots back angrily, picking up a thick book with a red cover and black letters scrawled across the top. The picture on the cover portrays a lone shining blade bellow the title reading, **Devil's Hand Warrior. **

Miku stands in the far corner of the book store, buried amongst the manga, specifically the moe section while IA bounces up and down, enveloped in a book called, **Starlight Boom! **with the cover design being a young girl about her age, wearing a frilly and intricate light purple and white dress and a dark purple beanie hat with a large yellow star in the center. The girl's hair on the cover is an intricate mass of incredibly curly white hair reaching past her feet and spilling out onto the ground. The white haired girl is holding a bow and arrow, the tip of the arrow being a star. Her large blue eyes that basically take up a third of the cover, are winking.

Miku picks up a manga showing a girl with short and chopped blue hair with a frilly princess gown holding a lyre from the Middle Ages. Miku quickly sets the book down after flipping through the pages gingerly for something interesting.

Rin suddenly stops skimming through the book, turning around to call out something, then stopping abruptly with a look of deep longing on her face. She bites her lip and turns away, staring at the pages and trying not to cry, which, fortunately for her, is something she's good at. But only because of him. And he's the reason she wants to cry in the first place.

"I-I'm going to the bathroom Len." Rin calls out a little too loudly before rushing off into the woman's bathroom down the hall. She slumps over on the floor, trying to fight the small flashback, but with no avail. His words float back as if long forgotten.

"_Whenever I feel like crying, I picture the face of someone I know is never far off, someone I know will always be there for me, someone I trust with my life, and then the tears are the ones that seem far off, and it doesn't hurt anymore. That's how I don't cry, so you don't have to keep crying for me Rin. Because seeing you cry, makes me want to cry even more, okay? So smile for me Rin, smile." _

Gritting her teeth and clenching her fists together, Rin stands, her yellow hair bouncing in the hair with her as she surges to her feet. She opens her lips, saying what she was about to say to Len, who wouldn't have been able to stop crying.

"This part in the book…" Rin whispers with an air of determination, pointing at a passage about halfway through, "I knew you would have found funny." She pauses for a long time, holding her breath and biting into part of her lip again. "God dammit Lui. After all this time you still make me want to cry."

Rin walks out of the bathroom, met with the confused glares of Len, Miku, and IA. IA pulls on Len's jacket, trying to get his attention. "Lennny! Can I get this one?" She cries a little too loudly, holding up the Starlight Boom! book right in front of Len's face.

"Rin, how much money do we have?" Len asks, reaching his hand out for the wallet.

"About fifty bucks, not too much. How much is the book she wants?"

"Fifteen bucks." Len replies exasperated. "Let's get it anyways." He says taking the wallet out of Rin's hands and walking over to the counter.

"Wait-" Rin scolds, grabbing Len by the arm and pulling on him. "The fifty we have is barely enough for lunch, and we both know credit cards are out of the question. She doesn't need the book." She glares at her brother, who is already determined on buying it.

"Rin, we can always get more money." He grunts, pulling out of her grip and walking with IA bounding at his heels to the counter. As IA passes Rin she stops and sticks her tongue out at her, then she continues to run to catch up with Len.

Miku pushes open the doors of the small town bookstore, walking out onto the busy streets of a city in mid-afternoon. She uses her hand to shield her eyes from the blinding and dismal sunlight. Behind her Rin is busy unfurling a large map of the area and muttering angrily under her breath about her confrontation with Len earlier. Len walks up beside Miku, looking her in the eye and turning his head slightly. IA has her nose buried in the book, and Miku watches out of the corner of her sight as the small girl's eyes light up as she reads.

"How's 'starlight boom' IA?" Len asks, mocking the lame name to try and get a laugh out of stoic as ever Miku. And it works. Miku giggles slightly.

"What?" IA asks, straightening up at Len and looking at him with genuine confusion.

"Your book? Starlight boom?"

"How do you know what it's called?" She walks over to Len, holding up the corner and pointing at the girl on the cover. "Isn't she the book? Isn't the name this girl?"

"That's what it says on the cover, that's the title. See it says Starlight Boom." Len says, bending down to her level and pointing at the title.

"Silly Len! It's not talking!" IA giggles.

"IA… do you know how to read?" Rin perks up from the map, averting her eyes from it and staring down at IA while Len asks with genuine concern.

"R-e-a-d?" IA repeats.

"I- I don't either." Miku whispers quietly hiding her face under her black scarf.

"You… you don't know how to read?" Len whispers. Without warning he lets himself fall back onto the sidewalk, flopping down onto the curb and resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He slowly rakes through his hair, shaking his head slowly, uttering inaudible insults and swears. "No one ever cared enough, to teach you how to read?" He scoffs suddenly, face palming and then beginning to laugh. Not laughing with any humor, but laughing at the dry cruelty of life. He draws a slow intake of breath, then deeply sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose."The world is a real bitch."


	24. Voice Like Glass

**Gommene! I've been late with updates this week (I've recently become obsessed with The Walking Dead, the show, and have been watching it at every possible waking moment :D) **

**But, new character! Yay for new characters!**

**Thanks to Reviewers:**

**Zhane 17**

**awesome dt**

**Lolly 1o1 **

**Guest **

**Enjoy and review!**

_**~Tiruneko ;3**_

* * *

_X~24~X_

Rin was once told she has a voice like glass.

A smooth and predictable surface, you always know what's behind. But yet cold and sharp when shattered, painful when broken and dangerous if distorted. Having a voice like glass can at times be a viable tool, but when trying to be comforting it seems to lose it's magic effect.

IA struggles and squirms in Rin's arms as the blonde struggles to hold her down and keep her hand cupped over her mouth. The mumbled and panicked, "no, no, no, no!" coming out like a gurgling moan. Her small legs kick furiously back and forth and her small and grubby nails cut into Rin's leg.

Miku moves from her bending position to stand, but Rin stops her movement sharply with a glare. Slowly the frustrated teal haired girl lowers herself against the cold wall yet again. She tips her head downwards, hiding her bitter expression behind her scarf.

IA's tears roll off of Rin's hand and drip onto her lap as she whispers with her glass like voice into her small ears.

"Shh… Len's fine. He's tough. He's fine, he's fine, he's fine… he-he-he's fine." The phrase she chants now becoming something more for herself than for the thrashing girl in her arms.

The small popping of gun shots erupts down the hall and loud, yet far away screams burst forth from the hallway behind the wall the group is slumped against.

"He'll be okay." Rin stands with difficulty, making herself stand up on shaky legs. Seemingly not too long ago she made a promise to a certain someone to never leave him behind. But sometimes promises are meant to be broken, even if it's painful to do so. It was just so soon since they were apart but she's leaving him behind again. Rin whips around on her heel, almost stomping down the hallway of the busy subway station.

"Rin- isn't that the signal?" Miku stops her with her words alone. That's her remarkable quality. What does Rin have? A voice like glass.

"Yeah. It was." She spits out bitterly. When you crack glass, it cuts you.

Miku recoils slightly, burying her face a little further amongst the black fabric of her scarf. The subway train approaches loudly with a screeching on metal tracks. Rin's arms shoot out, grabbing IA under the arms as she kicks and screams hysterically. Rin ushers Miku onto the train, pushing the struggling blonde in front of her. She turns her head behind her, staring down the hallway, where more popping is coming from.

"_Don't let him out of your site Rin. I can't always watch him, and we both know he needs you." _

"But he needs to be the hero sometimes too." Rin mouths silently under her breath before stepping on the subway and watching the glass doors slide shut with the chirping of the bells. Not too soon after it lurches into movement, sending them gliding over the tracks.

"Rin, when will he meet up with us again?" Miku asks timidly, afraid of getting her head bit off again. She strokes the top of IA's blonde head and the small girl buries her face into Miku's stomach, quieting her violent sobs. But such a severe separation anxiety is to be expected from a girl this young who's only ever been around people for such a short time. Being condemned to darkness can only do damage on one's mind.

"Uh- … soon. We're going to meet him around the beach tomorrow." Their plan is simple. After Miku catching a glimpse of the purple haired man from the hotel following them a little while after the book store, they knew they had to lose them. Or they would find them. The plan was to go down to the subways together, then separate, giving Len one of the guns and sending him wandering through the tunnels by himself while the girl's hid just by the gift shop, waiting for the rest of their "tracking team" to follow Len. That part was the easy one. Once leading them into the crowded central, Len was to fire shots at the ceiling, sending people scrambling and running, at which point in time he would ditch his jacket and slip out in the commotion, leaving the station and getting a car they had previously hid in the same town. He would then drive the car to the farthest away subway exit near the beach, which would take the rest of the already fleeting sunlight of mid day.

"He'll make it you know. Besides, he still has to finish teaching me to write my name." Miku says reassuringly, as if hearing Rin's thoughts.

Turning with a flawless, yet fake smile, Rin replies. "You don't have to tell me Leek-head. He is _my _brother." A voice like glass. Cold, and void of emotion.

Len makes a sharp left around the street corner, cutting in front of a screaming woman, running from the station. A mass of people stream out, creating a water fall of screaming bodies mingling around chaotically, running each other down, one man even running _into _a cop car. In retaliation the pink haired woman fired shots back at Len, but they missed. A very large man plows into Len. To avoid getting trampled by the mob that follows, he dives sharply to the right, rolling into the storm drain and nearly into the road. He grunts as his shoulder scrapes painfully against the asphalt and a car screeches to a halt before crushing his body. Un phased by the minimal pain, Len rockets to his feet, running down another sidewalk, and cutting across a road ridden with stand still traffic.

The mall they passed earlier comes into view, and Len's hands make contact with a chain link fence guarding off the alley way where a video rental store used to be located.

"Shit." He hisses, placing his foot in one of the links and tugging himself up on top, coming crashing down onto the pavement.

"Please- wait!" A small and meek female voice cries. Swallowing his better judgment and conscious, Len turns to be faced with a strikingly beautiful girl.

Her beauty causes him to rapidly suck in his breath, and soothing his pounding heart from the rush of adrenaline. The girl is relatively short, almost a foot shorter than Rin, but considering her overall size, she is probably the same age. Her skin is pale, but nothing compared to the degree of pale Miku or IA has. This girl has bright neon blue hair, with two longer strands falling just below her shoulders, the rest kicked out and semi-spiked in the back. Her eyes are a haunting light blue. The plain white T-shirt that hangs around her shoulders, showing her left bra strap, is torn and ripped, even splattered with a small growing blood stain. Her jeans have a torn right knee and she is missing a shoe, dragging the bare foot at an awkward angle on the ground behind her. A school backpack, half open, dangles around her, adding to the _hollow _appearance of her. Her expression is pleading and desperate and she has a jagged and bleeding cut on her cheek. Fresh, crimson blood.

"Please… I don't know where to go… the-the panic, I got caught in the crowd. Please just help me off the main road. I can't climb the fence on my own. Take me to where you're going. Please." She outstretches a pale hand, the fingers closing gently, almost with no force against the chain links. Also part of her outfit are fingerless grey gloves.

Len approaches the gate cautiously, jumping over again to the same side as the girl. Only about twelve to twenty feet behind them a continuous stream of hysterical people race by, moving like a stampeding herd of frightened animals. And it doesn't seem to end.

"Hand me your bag." Len demands, and the girl wordlessly complies. He throws the brown shoulder bag over the fence, landing it with a soft thud and a clank of buckles on the ground. "When you reach the top, try to land on the bag. Keep your chin to your chest, tuck your knees up and try to land on your side. It'll hurt less."

He bends down on the ground, putting out his hands as a step stool, allowing the injured girl to pull herself to the top where she crashes most ungracefully into the leather bag with a yelp of pain. Len follows, helping her to her foot.

As he turns to help the girl limp off with him, across the street he spots a swish of purple hair amidst the crowd. It turns, running against the crowd and into the road, where it then begins to bolt down back in the direction of the station.

"We need to hurry."

Len drags her off with him wordlessly, until they reach the empty lot with the blue van, still parked and ready to go. Still silent and stoic, Len opens the car, sliding the girl into the passenger's seat and getting in the driver's side.

"Ah-Are you old enough to drive?" She gasps nervously, worrying just who she got into a car with.

"Uh I- uh… yeah, yeah I am. I just look pretty young for my age. I'm sixteen, don't worry I have my permit. Where should I drop you off? Is there somewhere you know you can find someone you know?" Len asks, pulling out of the spot slowly to avoid startling the girl any further than she must be.

"Can I just use a phone? Mine was smashed in the road during the stampede." She says in a melodic voice.

"No I don't have one."

"What do you mean? Shouldn't someone your age have a phone?"

"No, I uh- I mean it's at home. I left it in my house." Len back tracks, scrambling for a reasonable excuse.

"Oh. Just drop me off down the road. There's a gas station with a pay phone there I can use to call my dad." After moments of awkward silence as Len struggles to drive carefully she pipes up again. "Aoki."

"Huh?"

"Oh, I uh, it's my name. Aoki Lapsis. Yours?"

"Le- Lee Megurine." He sputters out, remembering how one of his trackers called one of the women "Megurine."

"Ah, I see. It's a nice name."

"Yours too. I don't think I've ever heard the last name Lapsis before."

"Oh, it's my mother's. I took her last name instead of my dad's; frankly he has a boring name!" She says with a giggle. Len laughs back, but not because of what she said, because of the way she _says _it. Her laugh is infectious.

The car pulls into a convenient store and a gas station a couple minutes later, it's even towards the direction Len was heading anyways. He slowly helps the girl out of the car, she is still limping.

Aoki picks up the pay phone, covering the receiver with her palm.

"I never thanked you. For helping me out back there. You didn't have to do that, and not many people would have. So, thank you Lee. I owe you one." She digs in her bag, eventually pulling out a pen and stick note, then hurriedly scribbling down numbers on it. Aoki hands it over and places it in Len's hand, closing his fingers around it with her own. "Call me and I'll buy you a snack or drink or something after school or sometime in the afternoon. Because of my dad's job I'll be in this town for a while still I think, so, give me a call if you're bored or whatever." She says uncomfortably, blushing all the while.

"You don't need to do that, I-"

"No, I do. It's my code." With a smile she continues, spelling out the last phrase emphatically. "I owe you."

With a smile Len replies to her, almost feeling bad about lying about his name to a scared girl who he basically got run over. "Yeah. I will. Are you sure you'll be okay waiting here by yourself?"

"I'm fine." Aoki assures him with a smile.

"Bye then." Len says, tucking his hands in his pockets, still clutching her number. As he steps in the car he catches a glimpse of her pressing the phone against her cheek and waving goodbye.

"Hi Daddy." Aoki greets a little sadly into the receiver.

"Oh thank goodness, my baby girl is okay! Where are you calling from? Are you okay?" A male voice responds from the other end with a fake concerned tone.

"I'm at the gas station you took me too for a snack yesterday, yeah I'm fine, just a little banged up. Did you find it? What you were looking for at the station?"

With a sigh the voice picks up again. "I wish. I'll be there soon, I'm leaving now."

"Are your colleges coming to the hotel with us again, or are we going to stay in the office building like last night?" Aoki asks a little disappointed.

"I'll get you your own room, how does that sound?"

"Good. Bye Daddy." She hands up, leaning against the bench and sighing. Suddenly, as if the fact was blocked from her before, the memory of Lee's face returns. His eyes were red. _It's so strange. _She thinks to herself, pressing her hand against her cheek like she always does when deep in thought.

Minutes later a car speeds into the parking lot, and a tall man steps out. He is wearing a white button down shirt and black pants. He walks over to Aoki and bends down, hugging her awkwardly, like he always does.

"What happened to you?" He gapes, worried.

"Just fell and got a little banged up, that's all." Aoki stands and looks up at her blue haired father.

"Good." Kaito replies, taking his daughter's school bag and putting it in his white car. "What about your phone? Why'd you call me from here?"

"Mine got smashed and I- walked here." She corrects herself, remembering how panicked her father would get if he found out she was picked up by a stranger.

"I'll buy you a new one, don't worry. No fourteen year old girl should go without a phone."

Kaito puts the keys in the ignition, pulling away from the gas station, the failure of the attempt to capture the demon children a freshly burned wound to his pride. Lily will be at their throats soon.

_I knew it was a terrible call to bring Aoki along. I should'a left her at the hotel room where she belongs. _He thinks bitterly to himself as he drives down the road, dreading the scolding he's about to receive from Luka.

* * *

**And now things are getting interesting ne?  
**

**Author Question: What do you think Aoki's role is going to be in the story? I have a VERY specific job picked out for her so far, but I'd love to hear how I set it up to seem like~!**

_**~Tiruneko ;3**_


	25. Make Things Hell

**Not too much to say before this chapter! Thanks for the great reviews as always guys!**

_**~Tiruneko ;3**_

* * *

_X~25~X_

The short and sharp blade glistens in the setting sun that illuminates the sky with a crimson red. It twirls in the air, performing a flip, and lands gracefully with a soft thump in a calloused hand. The handle of the knife is fitted with four holes for slipping your fingers through. The hand twirls the weapon skillfully, sliding it into the proper attack position and relaxing their muscles, their feet slipping across sand, but the stance holding strong.

With a swish of golden blonde hair and a flash of a white ribbon darting through the air, Rin has began to make sharp, pointed, and forceful jabs into the air. Her red eyes glaring and narrowed, her head tipped just barely downwards, uttering small grunts at the exertion of her power. With a burst of energy Rin surges forward, making Miku swear she had been levitating through the air the whole time. The blade once again flies through the air, spinning, flipping, and turning, eventually beginning to rapidly sink.

Rin straightens up immediately, into a normal, relaxed, and standing position, her side facing the knife as it hurdles back to the ground. At the last second her right hand shoots out, and using only her peripheral vision to see, her index finger grazes the tip of the blade, sending the knife spiraling powerfully in the opposite direction. To the untrained eye it would have seemed that Rin barely applied pressure to the blade, when actually she had done the equivalent of smacking it, sending it dancing and sliding over her knuckles. Within a mere second all four of her fingers are placed perfectly within the holes on the handle, and her body has snapped back into a fighting position.

Miku watches, barely able to follow Rin's movements with her eyes. The sound of waves crashing against rocks behind them add to the nearly unbelievable fantasy moment. How could anyone move like that, the teal haired girl will never know.

Once again the blade is thrown up into the orange sky, and it thuds into Rin's open palm as she relaxes once again. She sighs loudly, breaking the mystical silence Miku had been gripping too in anticipation of Rin's next graceful move.

"Looks like I've gotten a little rusty." Rin sighs with a slight cocky smile, staring down at the small cut across the tip of her index finger.

"Are you kidding!" Miku shouts, startling Rin immensely. The considerably timid girl tries hard to refrain from talking, let alone shouting.

After leaving the subway station, the group had walked down to the beach, and hidden themselves quite well among the large black rocks dotting the beach. IA stands on top of one of the massive rocks, chucking shells as far as she can into the salty ocean water. Rin had decided to pass the time, she should try to teach Miku some basic self defense.

While the two girls chatter about Rin's fighting skills, IA hikes up her skirt, splashing down into the water bellow the rocks. The fall was harder than she expected, and the girl nearly ends up making a complete face plant into the water and sand bellow. She stands slowly, and by the tone of the girl's voices, IA realizes they haven't realized she jumped off. With a sense of mischief, in her small mind she makes up a game. She kicks her feet in the water, creating large splashes. The salty water tastes peculiar on her tongue, and she bends, taking a long swig of the water. She inhales sharply, spewing out the water all over her already damp clothes. IA spits into the water, trying to clear her mouth of the vile taste. Recovering fast from her bout with the ocean, she wanders further to the right of the rocks, going deeper into the water, now a little past her knees.

She begins to sing a song she had heard passing a woman with a baby earlier by the park they passed through to find the beach. "I-I-I'm go-i-i-ing to fi-i-i-n-d something-g-g I-I-I lo-o-o-st! Hide-ing in the clouds! I-I'm going to fi-i-i-n-d the castle from my dre-e-e-ams, because I know-w-w-w somewhere-re-re beyond those white-and-fluffy-clouds up there-e-e is where you'll be wait-ing, for me! And I will hold your hand! And walk with the flowers up there! La-la la la la! La la, la la, la la. La la…" The song drifts off from her lips, fading into just a soft melodic hum paired with the plunking of her feet into water.

"I like your song!" A voice says from just a few feet in front of IA. The owner of the voice is a short and bubbly toddler just about IA's age, standing before her with brown pig tails on either side of her head held up with yellow ribbons. The girl has on a red one piece swim suit with a picture of a bunny on the chest. In her hand is a bucket full of shells covered in wet sand.

"It's not my song, it's the lady-on-the-street's song! I heard it and sang it just now. It's her song you like." IA asks, perky and happy as ever, smiling and bounding over to the girl.

"Well I still like it. Ne, where's your swim suit?" The girl asks, snapping the strap of hers.

"Don't have one! But yours is pretty!" IA is now standing beside the girl in her soaking clothes.

"Wanna pick up shells with me?" Yuki asks, her eyes lit with excitement.

"Mm!" IA cries, dropping a shell of her own into Yuki's bucket.

The two bound off down by the water, running up farther away from the sea line. Once they reach the top of the small sand embankment that drops down into the water, IA picks up a smooth white shell and throws it as far as she can. It lands gently in the dark blue water making a small splash. Yuki repeats the action, throwing more shells until the bucket is empty. The only thing that remains at the bottom is two shells. One a dark blue color with small lighter blue wisps and the other a pure white with light orange tint in the crevices on the surface. Yuki reaches in and pulls out the white shell, out stretching her hand to IA.

"My name is Yuki, which means snow. You can remember 'cause the shell is white like snow." She states simply with a small smile.

IA takes the shell and replies, "My name is IA, you can remember because my favorite color is pink, and the shell isn't pink." And she hands Yuki the blue shell.

With a strong gust of wind IA wraps her small arms around her smaller frame, hugging herself and squinting her eyes against the cold. Her clothes and hair drip water steadily onto the sand bellow, and her feet slowly sink into the moistening sand. Yuki notices.

"Stay here IA." She yells, running off past another set of brown rocks. IA flops down, sitting in the wet sand and tucking her knees up to her chin. Like those days in the darkness. Her eyes snap back open, and her hands fly to grip her head on either side, shaking her head gently back and forth. Footsteps pad on the sand and Yuki comes skidding back into the area and down the embankment holding a pink beach towel with a bunny face on the front. It is surprisingly soft and warm. She tosses it over IA's head, giggling.

"You're cold, so have this. My sister always told me to be nice to people and that if I was, I'd make friends everywhere!" Yuki cheers as IA stands, wrapping the towel around her.

"Yuki! Yuki come on! Miki's 'gonna kill me if I don't bring you back for dinner!" A male voice calls loudly.

"Uh oh." The brown haired girl whispers.

A boy a little shorter than Len walks into the clearing. His amber colored eye shows irritation in a playful way, his right eye hidden by a large bandage. He has scraggly, curly, and somewhat long hair kicked out around the base of his head. Black and damp swim trunks and a light blue T-shirt with yellow stitching around the neck and bottom are his clothes. He is holding a beach bag under his arm.

"There you are." He groans, in a semi-monotone manner, hopping off the embankment.

IA cocks her head slightly to the side. "…Len?"

"Yuki, who's that?" The boy asks the toddler, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"That's IA, Ollie! We were playing together!" Yuki says with unbridled enthusiasm.

The boy called "Ollie" bends down, whispering something in Yuki's ear. Her face becomes disappointed and a little grim, and with a sad nod she waves goodbye to IA, turning to follow the Len-Lookalike boy up the embankment and away from the shivering blonde girl.

IA tugs the soft towel around her tighter and kicks up a plume of sand.

The blonde haired boy turns down to Yuki once they're at a far distance and almost to the park. "Yuki, you know better than to talk to strangers like that. Ya' know what would happen if Miki knew I let you wander off like that? She'd flip out on me! Then I'd have to explain the slashes all over my face to everyone I see. Talk about _embarrassing._" He says, slapping himself in the face.

"But she was nice!"

"She was _weird. _She wasn't with any parents or anything, wasn't wearing a swim suit and-" He stops in his tracks feeling a shiver run down his spine at the way the li_t_tle girl' s eyes looked at him. They were a bright crimson red with an almost all-knowing and haunting gaze to them. Her face seemed sunken, but at the same time vibrant. The girl seemed to radiate a mixed feeling of intimidation and empathy. Something was _there _in her eyes. Something that made you feel bizarrely _alone _and a deep sense of _darkness. _The look she gave him when she laid her eyes on his, it was… mild fear and a type of paranoia. Frankly, to be blunt, it scared Oliver.

"-and?" Yuki parrots. Oliver realizes he's trailed off, snapping back he places a hand on the girl's shoulder and pulls her a little closer.

The familiarity of those eyes… he knows where they're from now. Miki. She is the only other person he's ever seen with red eyes. But hers aren't as… strikingly terrifying. Her eyes are soft, but yet sharp.

"Can I see her again?" Yuki asks. "IA?"

"I don't know." Oliver responds with a sigh, turning back to look at the beach.

IA reaches a small hand up to grip one of the black and slippery rocks. Miku and Rin's voices are still there, talking and chatting about "stance". With a small, nearly silent "oomf", IA pulls herself on top of the first rock. The next one is easier, using both arms she pushes herself on top of the rock she jumped off earlier, reaching over the edge to catch her towel before it falls into the salty water.

"No like _this!_" Rin scolds, moving Miku's arms closer to her center, and turning her slightly sideways.

"But it feels… weird!" She groans, moving the hand with the knife closer inwards to her chest like Rin commanded.

"Because you're doing it _wrong_." Rin groans, pulling her arm out wards by the wrist.

"But you said-"

"Let's just forget it!" She screeches, snatching the knife away and throwing it back into her back pack with an angry grunt. "Where the hell is Len with the car? He was 'suppost to be here a while ago." Rin spits on the ground and cracks her knuckles against her neck, then flopping onto the sand and leaning against the black rock.

"Where'd ya get that?" Miku asks IA, pointing at the pink bunny towel wrapped around her shoulders.

Rin opens one eye, glaring at the towel with her peripheral vision.

"Yuki gave it to me!"

"Yuki?" Rin questions, standing and ripping the towel off IA's shoulders.

"Give it back!" IA whines, reaching up for it. Rin ignores her, looking over it. Without any warning, IA lets out a shrill and blood-curdling scream at the top of her lungs, sending Miku into a fully fledged panic. Miku drops onto her knees, gripping her ears to the point of making them red and shakes her head back and forth muttering to herself hurriedly. Her eyes widen with terror, and she flops onto her back, withering there in the sand like a dying fish. Her breath sputters like a car engine, as she kicks furiously, sending up large plumes of sand into Rin's lungs. Rin coughs, dropping the towel in the sand. IA keeps screaming.

"SHUT UP!" Rin tries to yell over her voice, but it is drowned out by Miku, who is also screeching at this point. The angry blonde stalks over to IA, pulls her in by the collar of her wet shirt, and slaps her across the face. The scream is immediately cut off, and Miku even stops.

The silence that follows is painful, even more painful than the loud and piercing scream. IA's red eyes seem to dull, as if someone was adding grey paint to a vibrant red paint. Her eyes soften to that glossy look they had before Len ever came to her. No tears flow from her eyes, no words escape her lips. Miku sits up from her position in the sand, inching backwards slowly, the only sound the crashing of waves, and Miku's short and raspy breaths. With no warning IA yelps, pushing Rin off her, and falling backwards into the water bellow. Rin watches IA scramble to her feet, and run, head first, away from them, leaving the pink bunny towel behind.

As if a startled animal, IA runs and runs, and doesn't stop. Her heart pounding in her chest, the toddler runs as fast as she can on her short and small legs, even stumbling over them multiple times. She smashes into a solid surface, and lingers there on the soft object. Something wraps around her upper back, pushing her further into the thing. With a sharp intake of breath she begins to rant uncontrollably, speaking in a tongue of sorts, rambling on and on about shadows and the rats.

The feeling in a TV show, where the plot twist is solved, the feeling in a song after the long break of silence, the feeling in a bike ride after breaking the top of the hill, the feeling of finally snapping a large branch off a tree comes. The scent of the object lingers in IA's lungs.

"Wha-?"

"LENNY!" IA screams, wrapping her arms as tightly as possible around him, burring her face into his stomach and sobbing uncontrollably.

Rin and Miku jog up to where the confused blonde stands with a sobbing and hysterical toddler. Miku looks concerned, but at the same time relieved Len has returned. The teal haired girl walks over to Len, wrapping her arms around him and smiling.

"Thank goodness." She whispers to herself, holding back tears of relief.

Len stares across at Rin. Her arms are folded across her chest, her eyes narrowed and burning with fury. In her hand is a pink bunny towel. Her hair is plastered to her face with a mixture of sweat and ocean spray. Rin's head is slightly tipped downwards, casting a shadow over her forehead. The sky has just begun to get dark.

"What did you do?" Len asks angrily.

"Don't give me that look. I did what I always do." Rin hisses bitterly, walking past Len to the car parked not too far away. "Make things hell."


End file.
